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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imeges  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m*thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST    CHART 

lANSI  Odd  ISO  TESl  CHART  No    2) 


1.0 


If  1^ 


2.5 
12.2 

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1.8 


^     /APPLIED  IIVMGE 


1653    East    Mar.    Street 

''oc^iester,    New    York         '4609       USA 

(716)    482  -  0300  -  Phone 

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Ay. 


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M.  'm-^idt^-tZt 


T'».*^ 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


THl  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

KBW  VO«K  •   ROSTON  -  CHICAGO 
DALLAS  ■   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO..  Limitid 

LONDON  •   ROMRAV  •  CAICVTTA 
MKLIOUMn 

THI  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA.  Ltd. 

TO«OMTO 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 

THE  I.  W.  W.^t?vo/r.a/  /j'w/r<.vW 


BY 


JOHN  GRAHAM  BROOKS 

AUT80.  or  "A.  OTHWS  8..  U.."  <'t«.  .OCUl.  UN„,T."  ,TC 


1 


'■•k 


I 

-1 


Krai  l^iirlt 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1913 


AU  ritUt  r*smtt4 


I 


li-; 


18  7  6  79 


ComicHT,  1Q13, 

B»  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Set  up  »nd  dectrotjved.    Published  Much,  loij. 


s 


3 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

A  considerable  part  of  this  volume  was  given  as 
lectures  at  the  University  of  California  in  1911.  For 
present  purposes,  the  material  has  been  recast  and 
wholly  rewritten. 

The  space  given  to  the  more  general  sodah'st  move- 
ment and  to  the  European  origins  of  Syndicalism 
is  justified  on  the  ground  that  our  tantalizing  I.  W.  W. 
are  not  otherwise  to  be  understood.  Beyond  Social- 
ism, these  represent  the  most  revolutionary  phases  of 
social  and  economic  revolt. 

This  combative,  frontier  character  of  the  movement 
is  so  reflected  in  its  literature  and  among  its  followers, 
that  almost  any  statement  one  may  make  about 
syndicalist  principles  will  meet  direct  denial.  Be- 
tween the  higher  and  more  theoretic  syndicalists  and 
the  practical  fighting  members  in  the  field  of  agitation, 
the  differences  in  the  interpretation  of  principles  are 
radical  to  the  point  of  confusion.  This  could  not  be 
otherwise  in  convulsive  mass-action  like  that  which 
characterizes  syndicalist  strategy. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB 

PAGE 

I.  The  Socialist  Invasion j 

II.  The  More  Immediate  Danger ,2 

III.  The  Enlargement  of  the  Problem          ...  25 

IV.  The  Plague  of  Misconceptions         •      •      •      •  33 
V.  A  History  of  Disappointment .j 

VI.    Forerunners  of  the  I.  W.  \V 61 

VII.    The  I.  \V.  W •      •      .  73 

VIII.  General  Characteristics       ....*.  02 

IX.    The  War  of  the  Classes 106 

X.    The  General  Strike         u^ 

XI.    "Direct  Action" un 

XII.    Sabotage j^ 

XIII.  Violence j  g 

XIV.  Anarchism jgg 

XV.  The  Disappearance  of  the  Capitalist    .      .      .179 

XVI.    Constructive  Suggestion 10, 

XVII.  Some  Effects  of  Responsibility  .  .  .  .21- 
XVIII.    The  Service  of  the  Awaken-er 225 

XIX.    Some  Duties  of  Our  Own 239 

Literature 2 

^^^^^ .257 


i 


'\-  .\Vi: 


".-vaii-'-v      ..  -■.•  'i  ' 


i 


AMERICAN    SYNDICALISM 


THE  SOCIALIST  INVASION 

Until  within  some  half  dozen  years,  the  sturdiest 
Americans  were  at  most  tepidly  amused  that  any  one 
should  speak  seriously  of  socialism.   I  have  preserved 
an  impatient  letter  from  a  very  masterful  financier,  in 
which  he  asks  a  little  querulously  what  good  reason 
can  be  given  for  talking  and  writing  "in  this  country" 
about  a  thing  so  unreal  and  freakish.    He  knew  that 
some  leading  nations  in  Europe  were  at  their  wit's  end 
to  circumvent  this  propaganda.     He  thought  the 
future  very  dark  for  some  of  those  countries,  espe- 
cially for  England.    But  what  had  all  this  to  do  with 
our  own  country?    Did  any  one  doubt  the  prosperity 
of  the  United  States?    Were  not  opportunities  so 
ample  that  the  whole  world  rushed  in  to  seize  them? 
He  had  examined  the  savings  banks  in  New  York 
City,  "with  their  half  million  of  depositors,  mostly 
among  poor  people."    Were  there  not  four  thousand 
millions  in  the  Savings  Banks  of  the  Nation?   He  had 
at  his  finger  tips  the  great  army  of  stockholders  in  our 
railroads  and  leading  corporations.    Who  could  ques- 
tion that  these  beneficent  agencies  were  distributing 
property  to  an  ever  widening  proportion  of  our 
population?    These  were  indeed  "our  democratic  in- 
stitutions." He  believed  that  the  coming  census  would 


h 


I 


^a&i 


\  .'^---.-.^n 


a  AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 

prove  that  economic  opportunity  never  was  so  great 
for  the  common  man.    It  was  upon  observations  like 
these  that  he  based  his  protest.     It  was  to  him  a  crim- 
mal  folly  to  keep  these  disturbing  speculations  alive. 
I  do  not  here  put  in  question  his  views  about  the 
spread  of  property,  but  the  main  thought  in  this 
strong  man's  mind  was  that  our  American  condition.s 
so  dilTered  from  those  in  Europe,  that  we  were  snug 
and  secure  from  collectivist  taints,  if  only  this  irre- 
sponsible prattle  about  socialism  could   be  hushed 
up. 

For  quite  thirty  years,  I  have  heard  this  view  ut- 
tered  with  every  \ariation  of  emphasis.    Blind  as  it  is, 
it  had  one  excuse.     From  1848,  German  socialists 
came  here  in  such  numbers  as  to  give  color  to  the 
statement  that  the  mischief  was  merely  an  affair  of 
disgruntled  and  whimpering  foreigners.     It  pleased 
us  to  think  of  these  unhappy  strangers,  fleeing  from 
sombre  tyrannies  to  a  land  so  dazzling  with  freedom 
that  the  very  excess  of  light  caused  them  to  blink  and 
stumble.    With  good-natured  tolerance,  we  humored 
and  despised  them.    For  some  forty  years  they  were 
the  active  center  of  such  socialism  as  we  knew. 

All  this  has  changed.  No  one  can  now  examine 
with  any  care  the  socialist  leadership  as  it  appears  in 
political  and  other  activities,  without  seeing  that  we 
have  to  do  with  a  movement  that  is  in  no  proper  sense 
"foreign."  One  of  our  most  commanding  figures  in 
the  railroad  world  says  that  the  only  practical  issue 
now  IS  to  "stave  socialism  off  as  long  as  possible." 
He  is  convinced  that  the  first  chill  of  the  shadow  has 
fallen  upon  us.    There  is  much  reason  to  bcb'cve  that 


i^H.. 


I 


THE  SOCIALIST  LWASION' 


? 


socialism  in  its  more  rfrvolutionar}.'  character  i-.  from 
now  on  to  have  its  most  fruitful  field  in  the  L'nir.eri 
States.    The  conditions  and  the  mechani.-.rrj  throujfh 
which  it  develops  are  in  many  ways  more  favorahle 
here  than  in  any  country-  of  Kuro'^x:.     Cjm:  prosper- 
ities, our  higher  wages,  the  mohih'ty  of  the  lahor  clas-;. 
the  immediate  efiect  of  our  freer  v,ay-.  upon  the  in- 
coming fxrasant  all  work  to  thi-.  end.    .\rrrii-;,  of  r,he-.»; 
simple  folk  pass  violently  to  the  tense  and  unwonted 
excitements  of  city  life  or  to  indu;-.trial  centers  charged 
with  hostilities  between  capital  and  lahor.     The.-e  i.-. 
no  saving  transition  between  the  habits  and  traditions 
which  they  bring  and  the  new  life  to  which  thc-v  come. 
Of  all  that  i>  deefx-t  in  these  habits  and  tradiuons. 
our  own  ignorance  is  so  elaborate  and  complete  as  to 
constitute  a  danger  no  less  threatening.     \\V  have 
long  sought  comfort  in  thinking  of  our  countr/  a^ 
immune  from  really  serious  social  agitations.     Ger- 
man socialism  used  to  be  accounted  for  as  "'a  reaction 
against  the  monarchy."  English  ''landlord  m.onopoly  " 
was  given  as  an  e.vplanaticn  of  the  coIlecti\ist  uprising 
in  that  countr/.     But  France  is  a  republic  and  her 
land  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  small  farmers,  yet 
socialists  sit  in  her  cabinet  and  a  sociali-t  has  been 
Prime  Minister.    Dermiark  is  a  nation  of  small  farmers 
who  own  most  of  the  land  and  are  not  ■jDnre^-ed 
by   their  monarch,   but   there   has  developed   there 
one  of  the  most  powerful  socialist  parties  in  Europe. 
In  the  North  of  Italy  ''as  in  the  regions  r^jund  abjut 
Mantua;  there  is  a  \dgorous  and  growing  S'xialism 
".mong  agricultural  workers  quite  as  aggressive  as 
any  chat  the  to»%Tis  can  show. 


I: 


t 


4  AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 

TTius  sodaUsm  steadily  wins  its  way  underneath 
an  these  differences.    Language,  religion,  forms  of 
government  set  no  barrier  to  its  growth,  because  the 
causes  of  socialism  underUe  all  these.    The  causes 
have  their  roots  in  the  discovered  excesses  of  a  com- 
petitive system  that  fails  to  meet  the  minimum  of 
equality  which  powerful  sccUons  in  these  communities 
now  demand.    In  no  part  of  the  world  have  these 
excesses  been  more  riotous  than  in  the  United  Stales 
Nowhere  have  they  been  brought  more  widely  or 
more  directly  home  to  the  masses  than  in  this  country 
the  magnitude  of  our  area  and  of  our  economic  re- 
sources have  concealed  and  delayed  the  exposure 
With  the  opem'ng  of  the  twentieth  century  the  ex- 
posure has  come. 

After  three  decades  of  obscure  and  fitful  struggle 
sociahsm  becomes  part  and  parcel  of  our  politicaf  and 
social  structure.  It  no  longer  stammers  exclusively 
m  a  tongue  half  learned.  It  is  at  home  in  every 
Wan  dialect.  It  no  longer  apologizes,  it  defies. 
Almost  suddenly  it  wins  a  congressman,  fifty  mayors 
and  nearly  a  thousand  elected  offidals.  ' 

As  has  happened  in  every  known  country  where 
Sociahsm  has  grown  strong,  its  first  victories  are 
followed  by  defeat.  Pecum'ary  interests  once  alarmed, 
drop  their  differences  and  act  together 

Many  dmes  this  fusion  has  triumphed  with  bois- 
terous seW  congratulation.  For  the  most  part  the 
aughter  has  been  premature.  It  soon  turns  out  that 
the  routed  enemy  has  gathered  again  in  larger  num- 
bers more  firmly  entrenched  and  better  equipped. 
In  Milwaukee  at  the  close  of  Mayor  SeideJ's  first 


THf.  ■.OriALr-T  I \"; '.-.lOV 


term,  he  and  hii  -.o/iilLat  foUowir.z  ire  'Jir'^ir:  •'.•^* 
by  the  help  of  the  Cathotic  Ch-^rch  ir.fi  h,y  the 
rap  ju.^  uruon  of  the  fJFO  old  parties.  Tfhi±  ?ui-i 
fo'u;;ht  each   other   for   =pr,C3   -ince   the   Ci.t".   7>  i: 

Sx/naii.^m  oorr.peU  thi.-.  f.;ii.vn  of  f.-izh ter.eri  pr-.p*ir-y 
interests  irto  one  zr.rr,  pbaLir^  ber.t  -pon  its  ott:: 
safety.  At  the  nr3t  threat  of  a  ;ocir::oi:  perl,  the  ->l*i 
barjiers — Reptiblican  or  Dentocratio  ir^  :'.r7ott.t.-„ 
It  h  now  property  ar.d  pri'.-Hege — the  real  :-,:t.*rJ 
ur.derlving  io  nuch  -;f  o-^r  pr-^tty  pcll-icsd  vizcrs.z. 
that  itand  there  like  armored  coLear^es  --m'r.-t 
the  new  enemy.  Sooaiiits  are  put  to  rout  hv  thii 
coalition  thougii  the  2<x:aliit  cauie  rteantine  Lai 
?rown  apace.  Tte  ciiucklbg  -Jirhi-.h  echoed  far  and 
near  over  thus  'Milivaukee  defeat"  may  later  exdte 
its  own  soberer  refections. 

With  wonted  g'ood  natiire,  the  pubUc.  unalamed 
and  unrebuked,  accepts  all  these  resulti.  In  account- 
ing for  the  sodaiiit  capture  of  so  large  a  city,  the  pres5 
ixisistj  that  the  revolt  wa£  not  after  aJ]  ver%'  "^r- 
c:..:i5tic."  It  wa5  n^drdy  '■only  a  protest."  gathering 
to  itielf  all  manner  of  critical  ill-humors  that  have 
little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  thlzs  called  sodali^m. 

There  is  much  truth  in  this,  but  alio  some  dangerous 
reserves  of  error.  In  a  visit  to  these  "socially  cap- 
tured cities"  I  found  not  only  in  centers  like  Mil- 
waukee and  Butte,  but  in  countr.-  towns,  of  vUca 
some  of  us  never  heard,  that  hundreds  of  the  more 
thoughtful  citizens  had  voted  the  s^xialist  ticket. 
Many  reasons  were  given  me   ::r  this,  but  two  c: 

fr»»ST*i    n-5T-a    ^■r\^^T -J  T    ii^*a.»o<*'  TT?**-*-      ^^>*^..-«    *^^    — _^?_-7 

corruption  and  decay  of  our  party  p«jlitics  had  reached 


;;,;;f'^f"''''^ '-''-•'"-'••'' nn,l  self  r,-s,Hv,ln, 
h.icl  stung  these  discontenis  i„,„  ^,,,„  "'^ 

In  iar«,.  .„„  ,•„  ,„.„„„  ,,,„.,j:'r,.±  .,:;:;:7:- 

''"«™""'  "'■>■  ll'^y  l-J  case  off  an,.i,-a„,  .     ,       ' 

hones,  govcrnmcn,  i„,p„,<.ib,c.  ;„  „„•,,  di/'T^f  f 
voted  f,)r  Demotrals  ivli.,.  „f|,..  „,„,.  „/ ' ,        '"  ' 

ing,  fcU  down  a.ieo.,, ,„  l.^::^Z:^^'Z. 

n-orc  I  tried  my  old  party,  until  I  .sa„   t  ,  .'.d^u  ? 
ro  ted  out.    rm  „„t  going  to  l,e  ,„oled  hV     ,'  o 
calLsm,     I  see  it  promises  a  good  nnnv  ,1,         "" 
never  can  deliver,  but  I  shall  stkMo  ^^  lu'T-  " 
It  what  money  and  lime  I  r,n  .,(T         '  '  «'™ 

it  shows  its  present  spSt  "  '  ^"='  "^  '""«  "' 

"s^rit  ■•  Ltd'  .-f '  ''^'"""'  "^   '"^  »-«-^' 
ness     it  Iwt  ■;  ■"  ''°""'^"'  ^^htcrcsted- 

hai/Jd'r:d%;rrh:^iryr^^^^^^^^^ 

cant  and  humbug  that  characterked   rL  J    "' 

Sundays  and^^he  It  IC  :„"    J™ »/.-  "" 
-^%days.,.„-a.,t,.etaieIb::ltd;rrtS 


THE  ^/::.MrT  rr,  vrr-v  j 

r  had  ■fT.n  in  •.<»V';rii  --h'-r  -f'ie!  „-d^r  -•.-,«-'•*  ---- 

fr-,!.     I.  hi  K'.r.r:  --.  ~  .v  -.ir  ;-  t.:r.  -Z-  ' ■/ '-^ 

It.  ir.r/.hf';r  ".;"■/.  hi.*.// ^tcir.i*.?  :.",'U.i.'.':.*  T..i'',-!"J*s 
a  '^ji-^hftr  (Old  ^no.^h  to  r^-'^~>:r  ih-^  <;;;•, ;:  M"ir 

?rrat  da^i  ';:  r^y  ^.v.:-.     T-x  v   -.-_■:'-.:  ':..■■-  ;-   -v 

^ocuIL^i  -^f-.T^.  i'Az::      I  hi.-:  r-.!-:  :r.:-:r   .-  :   .-  ;,-- 
i-i.i;:^*  Syvokr  ^:  •;- :  >:*v-  -.r'.    :.'  '.':.: .::.:     f  ----- 


I:  -i=  V 


:r-:  to  rr.-;  :.-  -y 

•-.lo'^ir.?  yean  '.he  rr;.i:  c-r"  r.i  -f  :-cc.    I  h^i  fT.'e 

*o  believe  that  con----,.  xeaJth  had  =o  fi^t-ed 
upon  c-.r  poUuial  life  as  t .  ;ead  ui  str^i-ht  t:xi:d 
df-.iiter.  We  niay  r:  there  itii;.  but  thJ^  S'-d-'.:-— 
ha:  restored  rr.y  h-.r.-;.  I;  has  -ade  ~e  believe  *h^re 
are  n-.oral  re^.'/^irtes  ir.  the  co~~-^-itv  ar.d  i..  ehe^-*u.il 
capadt:e<  i-:-g  :;:n:~on  r>eop!e  xhich  xill  Mve  ui. 
:/  '^e  ere  z-ir.e  ircuih  tc  rec'inize  them  end  --.-rr  --::h 
thfrr.."' 

I  have  en:phaii:oi  these  nnal  xtrd?.  bec2-^=e  they 

hold  a  Iciicn  that  xe  ~u5t  ieam  if  -xe  are  caiihie  :f 
learning  anything.  Later  in  thii  st-dy  the  lessen 
^li  be  taken  un  Then  further  -r-ofs  of  its  ?:— i£ian:e 
can  be  given.  I:  h  ver.-  important  at  this  r,o;nt  iha* 
the  reader  avoid  the  error  -.i  -hi-kins  the^e-rrv  i;'-;- 
trations  are  mereiv  intere^±-.-  eAcec-":--     t-^-.-  ;-« 


I 


AMKRICAN  SVNDICALISM 


Sflmod  from  a  mas,  „f  to,i„„„y  „i,^  ^^ 

l"dc  with  a>nrrclcncss  and  lucidity.    I  h^d  men 

10  resign  the  r  positions  in  order  to  take  active  nan  in 

in  inur  calling.    An  instructor  of  natural  science  in 
a  high  schoo  said,  "I  am  only  waiting  for  an  „«i 
ing  m  the  socialist  ranks  where  I  can  be  fairly  cS 

orTclte"""^'  ""*  "•^'  '  """^  -"^"- 
"    ine  cause.       He  was  prepared  to  take  all  th^ 

chances  .n  earning  a  living.   Hrfound  at  everyta  h 

er.   gathering  more  and  more  wiJling  Hstener.  1?^ 

more  read,  rs  of  sociah'st  hterature  '"*^ 

Interfused  as  opinion  and  hono    f>,«c«  •    * 

or  three  millions  of  our  fellow  citizens.    If  the  abimv 
ano  wilhngness  to  sacrifice  oneself  for  an  ll  i    ^ 
^Pef^HualiUes,  this  rapidly  .rZ^'Cy'ZZ 
counted  among  our  moraJ  n<;<!rf=     rt  -       ^  . 
par.,  -n  is  to  beVsed^tXrver^'r^L^tZL" 
be  understood.    Everv  atfp«,r^f         ,  "'° 

♦«     Mv  ,      c.very  attempt  merely  to  outlaw  if 

to  vihfy  or  browheaf  \t    ^u  J-  >■"  "uuaw  it, 

could  hope  that  ZtlLI^L'''  'T"°"'  ""P^"°°-  "  one 
would  generally  prev  lXu,h,t  T  '  ^"'^^  '"  ^"""^  ^"^'^"^^ 
of  every  true  sodS  inte^T;:  ,dt  t^^'  ''^^  ^^^^  ^^^^ 


THr  SfKIALIST   IV\  AsroN 


Massarhusitts  towns.     If  it  U  thr  cxpr.s,  ohjf(  1  [., 
multiply  ihf     gitators'  jxiwcr  over  labor,  not  twiLc 
or  thrice  but  twenty  time,,  it  is  ea.ily  r|<,ne.    Lot  an 
irritated  titi.a-n.hip  it.ell  i>lay  the  an,inhi>t,  as  in 
San  Diego  and  in  several  fCa^tern  communities  let 
it  act  in  heat  and  with  ^uspicious  disregard  for  justice 
and  at  once  a  huncjred  new  avenues  of  inlluence  are 
ofMned  to  men  like  i:ttr>r  and  Giovannitti.     If  they 
had  gone  to  the  electric  chair,  the  incensed  imagina- 
tion of  millions  of  wcjrkingmen  and  women  would 
have  crowned  them  martyrs.     Solemn  hours  would 
have  been  set  apart  to  do  them  honor  and  the  j^lace 
of  their  burial  W(juld  have  been  a  shrine.    Even  now. 
as  they  leave  jail,  audiences  that  no  hall  can  hold  will 
greet  them  rapturously  in  every  industrial  center  of 
the  United  States.    It  matters  little  what  they  say; 
the  sympathy  that  has  been  created  in  their  favor 
supplies  all  deficiencies.     Their  lightest  word   has 
signifxance  and  carrying  power  that  make  the  jail 
the  shortest,  quickest  way  to  influence.     A  lawyer, 
himself  doubting  the  justice  of  their  jailing,  tells  me, 
"But  severity  might  have  worked  best,  as  it  did  in 
hanging  the  Chicago  anarchists  in  "87.     There  was 
little  enough  justice  there,   but  the  thing  worked. 
You  haven't  heard  of  anarchists  in  that  town  since." 
Even  if  there  were  truth  in  this  risky  analo-v.  it  is 
very  fatal  not  to  recognize  the  changes  .ince  1SS7. 
Labor  has  many  avenues  of  expression  and  influence 
now  which  it  did  not  then  possess.     It  has  literary 
organs  constantly  read  by  at  least  four  milJion  .,'1 
men  and  women.    It  has  its  first  stratetric  h.,\,i  up^n 
our  political  lite.     It  has  a  new  and  deepened  .en^e 


•i  - 


m 


-i*HfI  5s«i5P 


10 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


of  solidarity  that  strengthens  month  by  month  as  it 
awakens  to  the  nature  of  its  task.  It  is  -n  awakening 
immeasurably  stimulated  by  critical  and  intensive 
studies  that  have  become  the  best  stock  in  trade  for 
a  dozen  magazines  and  weeklies  of  the  highest  class. 
These  disclosures  of  things  sick  and  sickening  among 
capitalistic  disorders  pour  their  steady  current  into 
every  socialistic  sheet.  One  of  them  has  it,  "We 
Socialists  could  discredit  the  present  business  and 
political  system  if  we  did  nothing  but  re-edit  and 
popularize  what  the  big  magazines  are  saying.  They 
get  a  lot  of  better  stuff  than  we  can  get." 

The  fateful  note  in  the  Lawrence  strike  was  not  in 
that  distracted  city.  It  was  in  the  impression  made 
upon  almost  every  outside  investigator.  It  was  in 
the  throb  of  fellow  feeling,  not  for  manager  or  for 
stockholder,  but  for  strikers  deprived  of  organization. 
In  more  than  eighty  articles  in  every  variety  of  publi- 
cation, from  the  Atlantic  Monthly  to  the  great  dailies, 
this  sympathy  appeared.  To  my  certain  knowledge 
three  persons  with  large  possessions  stood  ready  to 
help  these  strikers,  if  the  case  had  gone  too  far  against 
them. 

I  am  not  here  defending  this  sympathy.  I  do  not 
pass  upon  it  as  fair  or  even  intelligent,  I  point  to  it 
solely  as  a.  fact:  a  fact  very  momentous  because  it  has 
become  an  increasing  part  of  labor's  awakening  and 
entry  into  politics. 

All  this  has  brought  a  new  atmosphere  with  changed 
perspective,  both  in  its  lights  and  shadows.  It  is  an 
atmosphere  extremely  f;i\  orable  to  the  growth  of 
bucialism.    Tho  fear  ui  Uic  word  is  obviously  passing. 


^k^^Mm^m^i!^'^^-^^  -:-»^i^^-5^^..H^;i^C;^'  C'V 


i^^*^ 


THE   SOCIALIST   INVASION 


II 


4 


There  is  a  new  hospitality  to  open  and  fearless  discus- 
sion of  its  proposals.  A  growing  number  of  editors, 
legislators,  scholars,  economists,  sympathize  with  the 
propaganda  to  the  extent,  that  they  welcome  and 
encourage  its  discussion.  As  for  the  "working  classes," 
in  centers  of  industry,  as  well  as  in  newer  agricultural 
communities  of  the  West,  conditions  are  such  that 
the  socialist  vote  may  at  any  moment  record  itself 
in  such  force  as  to  disturb  profoundly  our  present 
party  politics.  We  have  now  to  count  upon  this  as 
something  irreducible.  We  shall  neither  stop  it  nor 
lessen  its  pace.  Our  impending  question  is  one  of 
learning  so  to  adjust  ourselves  to  the  new  fact  that 
some  real  part  is  left  us  in  shaping  and  guiding  these 
new  democratic  urgencies  toward  stability  rather 
than  toward  confusion  and  disorder. 


f 


-i' -^  =^  .A>^ 


n 

THE  MORr:  immediatp:  danger 

In-  the  hope  of  making  more  infdligible  thr  Rrnrral 
purpose  of  this  study,  I  wish  to  connect  it  with  ex    • 

/  "rr5/.    The  book  was  at  best  only  the  A.  B    C    of 
s.^me  economic  disorders  observable  at  the  tinie    "as 
jn  a  pnmer,  I  tried  to  interpret  those  features  of  the 
trade  union  struggle,  as  it  met  on  one  side  the  resist- 
ance of  the  en,ployer  and  upon  the  other    .  already 
;nvad.ng  socialism.    It  seemed  to  me  then,  as  it  seems 
to^lay,  that  socialism  has  no  such  personal  friend  as 
K>   cnpnahst  possessing  power  and   inclination     o 
c.u.h  labor  orgam^atlo^..    There  are  other  and  deeper 
causes  of  socialism  over  which  we  have  little  control 
I'ut  m  our  relation  to  labor  organisation,  we  can 
-erase  cho.e   and    conscious   direction.     Not   all 
the  bulky  offences  of  trade  union  aggression  should 
obscure  the  fact  that  these  organizations  are  among  the 
educational  and  eonservative  forces  of  our  time     The 
rade  umon  expressly  recognizes  the  wage  system  and 

te.  always,  however  awkwardly,  to  make  terms  with  it 
Ju.t  as  expressly,  socialism  aims  to  destroy  that  system 

LNcn  m  theory.  ,f  ^apual  once  convinces  labor  that 
n>  trade  umon  ,.  .utile;  that  it  can  have  no  orgar^c 
and  recognized  pan  with  capitalist  man....en....  TJ!' 

12 


m.^-    i 


■..rsr 


THE   .\fORF.    IMMUjI.V:?.    L.v.N'Op.r 


n 


labor,  ii  it.  have  a  ::'!'.-arr,  ■.:"  lr.U:Ulj-:r.-j:.  will  l.'jk  r:i.-,e- 
where  for  .-.uccor.  Il  will  ,^y.  •  Jr.:  .irvluli.-.l  r-.-f.-.r.-. 
to  play  fair  with  ui.  Real  fx^Tr^.T  in  '.ht:  h/u.-i-t;-..-.  -T/vrM 
has  become  organic.  It.,  zreai  achir,-v..-n:en',,  tj^w  'lor.e 
tfirough  organization.  Knovvins'  tni.-.  and  i'l-rrin^ 
in  it,  capital  either  nght3  us  or  palaver-.  It  ii-ht.-,  .r 
it  seeks  diverting  iubstitLte^, — -r.y^.':lr.2  t .  r.r-;v..-nt 
that  collective  emdency  am^^ng  u.-  whi^h  i:  dni-  in- 
di.^pensahle  for  itielf." 

Myappeali^not.ho-;vr:v-;r.  to  thvory.but  to  =u:h:^::t 
and  open  illustrati^jn  a-  appt.-ar  in  p^gei  that  f  jli.-.v. 

Before  the  sullen  reaction.,  of  the  Hornet tr.-<.i'i  v.rik-.- 
in  Pittiburg  had  ce--..^cd.  I  a^kcd  ..  m^n  of  r-.-^I  p.-j7^--r 
in  those  great  industries,  if  it  -.vere  true  that  he  and 
hi^  friends  had  detvmdned  to  wdp.:-  out  trad-  u.nijn 
organization.  '•Yes/'  he  said,  -that  is  our  purp<..c. 
They  seem  to  exd^*:  only  to  make  trouble  and  ^-e  are 
done  u-ith  them."  Without  excitem.ent  ^^r  brasza- 
docio,  he  explained  to  me  ho;\-  trds  couli  be  dune  ^ni 
would  be  done.  -They  bother  the  life  out  -A  u.,'" 
he  added.  '•They  keep  men  at  work  we  do  not  v,-i  ::; 
prevent  or  tr\-  to  prevent  our  turning  ou  those  f.r 
whom  we  have  no  further  use.  They  level  things 
toward  the  meanest  worker.  We  have  got  on  u-ith 
them  only  because  we  were  forced  to  it.  Thev  ev-.-:v- 
where  check  product.  We  are  now  -,in^  to  contr..l 
our  own  business,  and  we  are  goLng  to  do  it  entirdv."  - 

'  Thii  en:pL>-Er,  like  oihtn.  did  not  of  ■z-yj^^  c-b-c.;  t:  i    •;»! 

trade  u:iion" — or.e  thi:  ^-ouid  in  n  ^  .va.v  ;n:ir:=re.    Bu"  ■-- '  ---- 

cannot  be  allowed  tj  dtine  •■.;>..inc^;  '  ;-  j.  t.-:idt  •-.•-.■  -  inv"  .—'  -^ 
th  n  we  can  allow  Lb.:r  to  icL.-c  it.    The  i-.-:'-:::  n  ai>.-  -  th;'-  '-.-•'-; 

■■"■'-"   »-•■■'--.    -;^i.:   .i-LU-   v.  ^ri-i.v  j-.^;   _-;   ;j^j   ;_^-   ^j^^^ 

Security. 


^1^ 


I  r.-m 


il 


14 


AMERICAN  SVNUICAI.LSM 


I  knew  that  in  general  and  in  detail,  there  was  a  «„(,d 
deal  of  truth  in  what  this  gentlemen  said,  but  I  left 
Pittsburg  wondering  what  the  American  peoj.Ie  would 
say,  and  especially  what  they  would  continue  to  say 
about  this  question.    Quite  incontestable  is  it  that  to 
most  employers  trade  unions  are  a  nuisance.    I3ut  the 
employer's  point  of  view  is  neither  e.xclusive  nor  final 
There  is  also  the  point  of  view  of  twenty-two  or  -three 
milhons  of  wage  earners.    More  important  still  is  a 
pomt  of  view  above  them  both;  namely,  that  of  the 
general  pubhc.    The  momentous  event  :n  our  country 
IS  that  at  last  the  public  is  becoming  aware  of  its  right 
and  Its  power  as  a  coUective  whole.  It  will  alas   be 
long  m  learning  a  wise  and  temuerate  use  of  its  power 
Because  of  its  ignorance  an.  much  blundering,  it 
wdl  frighten  many  investors;  discourage  many  enter- 
prises; let  loose  upon  us  a  pest  of  self-seeking  politi- 
cians, but  none  of  these  unavoidable  abuses  will  stop 
the  growing  assertion  of  public  authority  over  the 
orgamzeu  forces  at  war  with  each  other  in  the  ever 
widening  field  of  competition.     People  have  learned 
that  1    trade  unions  have  bothered  capital,  so  has 
capital  bothered  the  public.     Capitahstic  organiza- 
tions have  annoyed  the  public  in  ways  that  are  differ- 
ent, but  so  gravely  have  they  threatened  the  com- 
munity, that  a  large  part  of  governmental  energies 
federal,  state  and  city,  is  now  devoted  to  a  very  des- 
perate struggle  with  these  incorporated  forces     We 
are  trying  to  control  tendencies  in  them  that  are  seen 
to  be  anti-social.    Most  people  who  retain  their  sanity 
see  that  these  interknitted  j.owers  neither  can  be  nor 
ought  to  be  crushed.    That  in  the  common  interest 


*'.   Jfvr- 


.^ 

■» 


Tllf:   MORE   IMMf.LIATE   DANGER 


we  must  at  least  try  to  '"reg-alate""  them,  i.^  riox  ad- 
mitted. Thi-s  implies  the  necessity  of  organization. 
It  also  implies  its  Justirkation.  But  -x-hy  should  -treet 
car  systems,  express  comp  :.aies.  telegraph  and  mining 
corpH-jrat;on3  require  organization,  while  the  wat-; 
labor  connected  v,-ith  them  L  deprived  of  it?'  Capital 
asks  for  organization  because  an  unchecked  competi- 
tion raises  plain  havoc  v-ith  its  undertakings.  Organ- 
ization brings  the.se  pillaging  disorders  under  conscious 
control  which  helps  to  steady  and  m.aintain  price 
standard--.  But  what  of  labor  at  the  bottom?  Is  it 
less  mercilessly  beset  by  competition  than  is  the  em- 
ployer? 

With  its  m.obility,  with  its  facilities  and  habit;  of 
moving  from  place  to  place,  and.  above  all.  vrith  the 
inpouring  of  multitudinous  immigrants,  is  it  to  be  held 
for  an  instant  that  labor  stands  iu  less  urgf-nt  need  of 
organization  than  capital?  I  have  just  put  this  ques- 
tion to  an  employer  tormented  by  a  strike  over  this 
very  i.-sue.  He  admits  that  ""in  theor."  pt^rhaps"  his 
men  should  have  what  he  has  and  m.ust  ha%x-.  organ- 
ization. But  ""practically."  he  adds.  "  it  is  impossible. 
The  men  will  misuse  it.  There  v.ill  be  constant  and 
intolerable  interference  with  our  managem.ent.'" 

Yes.  t;.ere  would  be  interierence.  precisely  as  so- 
ciety had  been  forced,  in  its  own  defense,  to  interfere 
with  organized  capital.  We  had  a  century  of  ir.ter- 
fcrence  to  create  the  whole  structure  of  factory-  legis- 
lation, and  now  again  begins  another  struggle  to  de- 
vise the  agencies  of  regulating  lawless  propensities 
in  the  "tru=t-."  There  i^  not  an  a-nect  of  our  social 
policy  that  does  not  assume  the  fact  and  the  necessity 


1. 

I 


I- 


I 


;  !i 


10 


A.MKKIC.W    SWnif.M.isM 


of  Capitalistic  orpani/alion  and  also  that  it  is  to  he 
"intcTlorcd"  with  l,y  systcniati/nl  control.  It  is  (lu. 
vcr\-  nuk  of  our  overlords  who  now  tell  us  why  roKula- 
tioM  IS  inevitable. 

The  overlord  in  Pittsburg  nearly  twenty  years  ago 
said  that  capital  had  to  be  orga   ized  on  such  a  scale,' 
that  It  was  extremely  open  and  sensitive  to  disturb- 
aiu-es  of  all  sorts  and  the  trade  union  disturbance 
was  one  that  they  could  control  with  more  safi-ty  and 
nu.re  easily  than  any  other.    The  statement  is  exact 
C  apital  m  that  neighborhood  had  power  enough  to 
deny  organization  to  labor.     Troublesome  workmen 
->u  d  be  quietly  dropped.    The  energetic  an.l  skilhd 
could  be  paid  above  the  trade  union  scale.    It  was  all 
J^o  cas}-,  if  you  had  the  power. 

It  was  very  ominous  to  the  mere  student  to  be  told 
so  convincingly  that  this  was  the  age  of  organization; 
tiiat  all  our  towering  i)rosperities  depended  upon  it 
but  that  the  wage  man  and  woman,  so  far  as  possible' 
should  'je  e.xcluded  from  it.    For  is  it  not  also  an  age 
ot  the  common  school;  of  contagious  enlightenment 
through  the  press;  of  rapidlj-  multiplying  agencies 
01  very  delimte  labor  agitation?   Is  it  not  the  age  when 
^oclaIIsm  appears,  not  as  a  cloud  no  larger  than  a 
man  s  hand  on  the  horizon,  but  in  gathering  hosts 
iii-^'  that  ut  an  army  with  banners.^ 

In  the  face  of  all  this,  what  must  be  the  result  of 
thi.  amazing  attitude?  "T.  the  capitalist,  cannot 
in  ^  wiinout  organization:  without  conceded  privileges 
irom  Government,  State,  or  City;  but  you,  swarming 
and  competing  legions  of  labor,  shall  not  have  it 
^ou  are  so  many    you  arc  so  ignorant,  you  "are  so 


'niE   MORf.    IMMF.r^lATE   DANGER 


17 


I 


easily  fooled  bv  a?]'tator=.  Thoui'h  in  th-'.-^r/  vou 
ought  to  have  it.  in  practice  we  cannot  trj-.t  ^.  ou  -Aith 
its  U5,e."  Loa'ang  Pitt.-.hur?,  I  wondered  what  labor 
would  continue  to  say  of  thi-.  and  al.^o  what  wo  .Id  be 
the  final  judgment  of  the  general  fjublic.  On  the 
tr.iin  I  wrote  out,  a.^  be-.t  I  could,  -ome  fun-b;:r.2 
an.-wer5  to  these  question-.  W:.  j  and  wh.it  are  ir.':y 
who  receive  wage-  that  they  -hould  be  e.xcluded  and 
.set  apart  a.-!  unworthy  to  -hare  in  thi-rin-ii-pen-able 
form  of  association  that  i-  -uch  a  tower  of  strens'th  to 
tho=e  who  are  already  strong?  Was  it  in  the  i-ra-t 
likely  that  the  mass  of  v.-age  earners,  sore  under  this 
treatment,  would  not  resent  it?  If  so,  what  -har/:s 
would  this  resentment  assume?  With  popular  agen- 
cies of  agdtation  so  far  developed;  with  sociausm  al- 
ready so  vigorous  in  its  rivalry-  with  the  urJon.s,  the 
ca-e  seemed  clear.  Capital  could  gain  no  victor.-  over 
labor  association  that  left  its  pang  of  felt  injustice, 
without  throv.-ing  the  door  vdder  still  to  sociali-m. 
In  what  appeared  later  in  Tke  Socid  Unn't.  I  ;\Tote: 


■'It  is  not  probable  that  c-mployers  car.  destroy  u-i 
the  United  Statc-s.  Adroit  and  desperate  atterrpts  -p 
ever,  be  made,  if  -^ve  mean  by  -mioniim  the  aggre^ii". 
\igorou5  and  dctermin'^d  organizationi. 

■■If  -.apital  iho'.;Id  p--vc  t>x.  ^t:one  in  thii  itrjgele 
suit  is  easy  to  predict.  The  t-mployerj  have  only  to  < 
orgaaized  labor  th_at  it  cannot  hold  its  ov.-n  agair^^t  the  c 
manager,  and  the  v.holc  enc:?^."  that  no-v  goc-s  to  the  ■-: 
turn  to  an  agg^e^.sive  political  s-ocialiim.  It  •.viU  no: 
hannk-55  s;.Tr'.7'athv  -vith  increased  citv  and 
which  trade  unions  ul-cady  feel;  it  -.vill  bccontv  a  ■ 
[wlitical  force  beat  upon  Using  f.-ery  "-°.;.pon  uf  taiatio 
ihc  rich." 


-■■'    \ 


~  n 


e  :a:t  01 


the 


.".nee 
;a!:st 
.will 

'ions 
Jent 
unit 


T'l 


■f! 


.T  «i    ■ 


i8 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


"Those  who  represent  the  interests  of  capital  must  make  the 
choice.  With  magnificent  energy  they  have  created  an  indus- 
trial organization  that  no  other  nation  now  matches.  Will  they 
use  some  fair  portion  of  this  strength  to  complete  this  principle  oj 
organization  so  that  it  includes  those  who  help  them  do  their  work? 
or  will  they,  in  the  fighting  spirit  of  competition  under  which 
they  were  bred,  insist  upon  an  unrestrained  and  unmodified 
mastery?" 


There  are  plenty  of  other  causes  for  the  rise  of 
social  unrest  besides  this  defeat  of  effective  labor 
organization,  but  in  this  country  socialism  owes  an 
immense  debt  of  gratitude  to  every  capitalist  who 
rejoices  over  the  undoing  of  labor  unions. 

Some  years  later,  I  twice  spent  a  week  in  Pittsburg. 
Though  incomparably  better  at  the  top  than  twenty 
other  roaring  centers  of  industry,  it  was  not  worse  at 
the  bottom  except  in  volum.e  and  intensity.    As  no- 
where else,  one  could  mark  the  massed  energies  of 
wealth-production  at  the  point  of  utmost  achievement. 
The  top  of  the  pyramid  was  in  quite  dazzling  light. 
Priceless  art  collections  open  to  the  public,  noble 
music,  heaps  of  best  books,  and  such  higher  schools 
as  the  country  had  not  seen.    But  lower  down  upon 
the  pyramid,  the  light  turned  into  shadow;  lower 
still,  it  grew  black  as  pitch.    Here  in  choking  tene- 
ments was  the  forgotten  city.    Here  were  the  legions 
that  worked  twelve  hours  in  the  day,  and  even  Sun- 
days.   Here  was  the  chaos  of  low  and  uncertain  pay. 
Here  was  every  incalculable  shape    hat  insecurity 
could  take,  all  the  horrors  of  maiming  and  unnatural 
death.    On  this  great  army  of  the  forgotten  rested  the 
pyramid  with  its  glistening  cap. 


V 


5 


HiiiB 


-  -i3 

i 


THE  MORE  IMMEDIATE  DANGER 


19 


But  this  was  "great  industry"  in  America.  It  was 
Pittsburg,  only  in  heightened  pace  and  concentration. 
For  this  reason  came  the  ghastly  "Survey"  of  that 
city.  It  directed  public  attention  from  the  shining 
top  to  the  broad  base.  After  the  main  body  of  this 
wholly  admirable  investigation  had  been  published. 
I  found  an  ironmaster  in  the  city  who  had  read  it. 
He  was  about  half  angry.  He  pointed  out  to  me  "  mis- 
takes," but  in  their  relation  to  the  whole  disclosure 
these  "mistakes"  were  so  trivial  as  to  excite  laugh- 
ter. "Yes,"  he  said,  "it  is  in  the  main  true,  but  it 
makes  a  Pittsburger  mad  to  have  his  own  town  picked 
out  and  held  up  as  if  it  were  the  only  sinner.  In  our 
business  we  are  no  worse  than  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  in  many  respects  far  better."  Every  one  of  us 
who  is  properly  human  will  respond  to  this  local 
patriotism.  The  "Survey"  only  shows  us  what  an 
unfolding  there  would  have  been  if  investigators  had 
done  for  the  country  as  a  whole  what  they  did  for 
Pittsburg.  Restricted  as  it  is,  the  popularized  educa- 
tion based  upon  that  study  is  beyond  price. 

Bits  from  the  income  of  one  great  capitalist  were 
used  to  pry  off  the  lid  of  things  subterranean,  and  let 
the  public  study  what  went  on  there.  Owners,  mana- 
gers, and  stockholders  were  compelled  to  see  probably 
for  the  first  time,  what  was  really  happening  beneath 
the  pyramid,  under  the  shadow  of  which  they  lived, 
riear  as  flame  in  a  dark  night,  one  fact  stood  out. 
Here  was  a  bu.'acss,  touching  and  enveloping  the 
life  of  the  nation.  Woodrow  Wilson  was  just  then 
saying  in  a  public  speech,  "Business  is  no  longer  in 
any  sense  a  private  matter."    "Society  is  the  senior 


'Ia 


,. 


i  fA 


r.  ,t  i 


20 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


partner  in  all  business."  If  this  is  true,  or  half  true, 
of  "all  business,"  what  is  to  be  said  of  this  Colossus 
whose  products  are  riveted  into  the  whole  material 
fabric  of  our  existence?  Through  all  the  vast  enginery, 
the  phalanxes  of  labor  passed,  but  at  a  pace  and  strain 
which  burned  out  the  vitality  of  average  men  in  half 
life's  working  time. 

la  this  no  business  of  the  public?  Who  is  to  pay 
the  bill  for  all  the  wreckage  which  such  overpaced 
industries  throw  back  upon  the  community?  We  do 
not  forget  that  when  managers  themselves  looked 
through  the  lid  they,  too,  were  startled  into  belated 
action.  Quite  magnificently  have  they  set  to  work  to 
standardize  the  human  side  of  their  industry;  to  deal 
with  the  living  factor  as  cunningly  as  with  steel  beams 
and  finance.  This  honorable  step  should  have  its 
recognition,  but  it  is  a  beginning  only,  and  the  slowly 
waking  public  will  continue  to  observe;  to  reflect  and 
hold  the  managers  to  account. 

It  will  press,  too,  that  other  question:  Are  the  giants 
alone  to  have  organization?  If  not,  what  follows? 
Two  years  ago,  I  found  in  a  Pittsburg  suburb  the 
first  sure  sign  of  Syndicalism  that  I  had  seen  in  the 
United  States  since  its  abrupt  formation  out  of  that 
portentous  strike  of  Colorado  miners  in  1903-4.  It 
was  a  strike  in  which  the  lawlessness  of  labor  was 
matched  and  outmatched  by  the  lavlessness  of  capi- 
tal. The  fruits  of  it  were  Syndicalism,  or,  as  here 
named,  the  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World." 
Belted  and  armed,  it  now  enters  the  arena  of  discon- 
tent. For  several  weeks  in  1911,  I  watched  it  in  a 
half  dozen  cities  on  the  Pacific  coast. 


I'i 


5::.mi»cs.'^i.«aj<. 


THE   MORE  IMMEDIATE   DANGER 


21 


a 


The  I.  W.  W.  taps  labor  strata  not  only  lower  than 
those  of  the  trade  union,  hut  still  lower  than  those 
from  which  Socialism  generally  gets  recruits.  It  ap- 
peals to  youth,  to  the  most  detached  and  irresponsible, 
to  those  free  to  follow  a  life  ol  adventure.  It  appeals 
to  those  who  rebel  at  the  discipline  of  the  trade  union. 
It  easily  becomes  a  brother  to  the  tramp  and  the  out- 
cast. Nor  is  there  one  of  these  traits  that  is  not  a 
source  of  temporary  strength  from  its  own  point  of 
view— that  of  rousing  and  educating  discontent,  of 
hectoring  and  obstructing  the  solidities  of  capitalism. 
Every  difference  which  a  heterogeneous  and  unas- 
similated  immigration  means  for  the  United  States 
will  advantage  the  I.  W.  W.  We  have  consented 
to  and  encouraged  the  conditions  out  of  which  these 
frondctirs  come.  They  are  now  integrally  a  part  of  us. 
Abuse  and  lawless  rigors  among  good  citizens  will 
enrich  both  their  material  and  emotional  resour- 
ces. As  with  the  trade  union  and  our  more  rip- 
ened socialism,  this  new  and  more  refractory  con- 
tingent must  be  understood.  In  spite  of  deliriums, 
it  too  holds  its  heart  of  truth.  If  it  brings  the  plague, 
it  also  brings  suggestion.  For  the  classes  more  safely 
lodged,  they  are  hints  rather  in  the  form  of  news  that 
we  ought  to  know;  news  like  that  which  a  scout  brings 
in,  untested,  but  with  forewarnings  that  the  wise  do 
not  ignore.  We  shall  safely  exclude  no  man  on  the 
firing  line  of  social  change. 

If,  in  these  grave  concerns,  we  are  to  create  a  saving 
statesmanship  it  must  have  first  of  all  the  courage  of 
open-mindedness,  willing  to  listen  even  to  I.  W.  Ws.: 
to  know  their  leaders:  yes,  even  to  work  with  them 


I  li 


I 


.   5,  ■ 

■     .      ■  !  • 

:r.  ill 


»;t,t'f*; 


•'r^SlXm*iM 


rr' 


1! 


32 


A.MCRIC.W   SVNl.ICALISM 


rather  than  contemptuously  and  excludingly  to  work 
against  them. 

Local,  legal  and  other  authorities,  during  the  last 
two  years  in  the  United  States,  have  done  more  for 
the  growth  of  this  revolutionary  group,  shading  into 
anarchy,  than  it  has  done  for  itself.  This  assistance 
has  been  rendered  because  the  most  important  thing 
in  the  I.  W.  W.  was  misconceived  by  frightened  prop- 
erty owners  and  by  ''e  officials  who  represented  them. 
Social  authorities  o..  .he  Pacific  coast  insisted  that  the 
whole  I.  W.  W.  "bunch"  was  composed  of  "bums," 
and  on  that  theory  used  the  legal  machinery  in  their 
control  to  harry  them  out  of  town.  If  the  "Great 
Bad"  is  in  "mi.xing  things  that  do  not  belong  to- 
gether," this  attitude  accurately  defines  the  Great 
Bad. 

The  I.  W.  W.  movement  is  strictly  a  revolutionary 
uprising  against  that  part  of  the  present  order  which 
is  known  as  capitalism.  Its  ground-swell  is  felt  in 
many  very  difTercnt  types  of  nationality.  Like  every 
revolution,  it  attr^-^s  the  most  unselfish  and  coura- 
geous, together  with  the  self-seeking  and  the  semi- 
criminal.  Garibaldi's  famous  "Thousand"  had  in 
it  as  large  a  percentage  of  this  latter  class  as  the 
I.  W.  W.  at  its  worst.  The  King  of  Naples  tried  to 
treat  Garibaldi's  followers  like  "bums."  It  proved 
a  most  damaging  error,  because  these  revolutionists 
began  to  excite  powerful  sympathy.  It  was  a  sym- 
pathy that  soon  passed  into  polidcal  action,  as  many 
of  our  own  great  strikes  pass  into  polirics,  forcing 
employers  to  yield  to  a  new  and  hated  influence. 
As  the  revolt  of  labor  increases,  popular  sympathy 


V  i 


THE  MORE  IMMEDIATE  DANGER 


33 


acts  through  politicians  whom,  ii  they  are  against  us, 
we  call  "demagogues." 

This  is  the  landmark  we  have  now  reached.  So 
many  people  have  come  to  sympathize  with  the 
socialistic  ideals  that  these  disturbances  can  no  longer 
be  kept  out  of  politics.  It  is  a  s>'mpathy  of  such 
strength,  that  even  politicians  of  high  character  will 
use  it.  A  Public  Service  Corporation  which  has  not 
now  learned  this  lesson  cannot  even  make  the  bluff 
that  its  managers  are  really  practical  men.  No  one  can 
claim  that  distinction  who  ignores  the  most  obdurate 
facts  that  enter  into  this  kind  of  strike. 

Yet  all  this  is  on  the  surface  of  our  problem.    What 
concerns  us  far  more  is  the  character  and  justification 
of  this  new  popular  sympathy  with  those  in  revolt. 
If  the  Boston  Elevated  Railroad  in  its  strike  of  191 2, 
is  forced  to  do  finally  about  everything  that  it  at  first 
stoutly  and  rather  contemptuously  said  it  could  not 
do,  our  interest  is  to  know  about  the  forces  that 
brought  about  the  change.     If  greater  events  like 
the  English  "Ta£f-Vail  Decision"  and  the  "Osborn 
Juagment"  hav  finally  to  be  utterly  remodeled  be- 
cause a  new  political  reckoning  has  to  be  made,  we 
want  also  to  know  what  meaning  there  is  in  this  in- 
sistance  that  the  most  solemnly  sanctioned  laws  must 
be  changed;  that  labor  shall  retain  rights  and  privileges 
that  courts  would  deny.   If  the  public,  once  instructed, 
will  not  stand  it  to  see  men  discharged  because  they 
join  a  trade  union,  or  because  I.  W.  VV.  agitators  are 
treated  as  "bums,"  it  must  suggest  at  least  this,— 
that  the  deeper  cause  these  agitators  have  at  heart 
is  misconceived  by  those  who  think  such  summary 


I 


•i'ii 


■I- 


'Ff' 


i; 


■M 


2= 


J 


24 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


methods  either  wise  or  "practical."  That  these 
misunderstandings  are  now  our  most  immediate 
danger  seems  to  the  writer  so  clear  that  some  space 
must  be  given  to  justify  this  opinion. 

Let  us  first  note  however,  a  change  in  the  common 
atmosphere  of  industrial  disturbance;  the  wider  sweep 
of  the  world's  sympathy  with  those  about  the  base  of 
the  pyramid.  We  shall  not  otherwise  see  the  meaning 
of  the  newer  movement  which  is  the  special  purpose 
of  this  study. 


11 


Ill 

THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

As  something  distinct  from  Socialism  and  from 
trade  unionism,  Syndicalism  is  now  set  down  as  a 
'  World  Movement."  The  claim  is  made  that  it  has 
differentiated  a  revolutionary  force  of  its  own,  sure 
to  supersede  the  niggardly  ways  of  ordinary  labor 
organization,  on  the  one  side,  and  an  entangled  po- 
litical Socialism  on  the  other. 

At  the  Lawrence  strike,  I  saw  a  newcomer  so  fresh 
from  the  Old  World,  that  he  tripped  awkwardly  in 
almost  every  English  sentence.  But  he  was  aglow  with 
beneficence.  He  said  he  had  been  in  eight  different 
countries.  "/XJways  it  is  the  same.  Everywhere  it 
is  the  one  home.  I  had  only  to  smile  and  say  a  little 
word — 'Comrade.'  At  once  something  happens.  I 
get  quick  my  smile  back  and  such  great  welcome. 
With  'Comrade'  and  no  money,  I  could  see  all  the 
world  and  learn  all  things." 

There  is  neither  measurement  nor  appreciation  of 
this  movement  apart  from  the  spirit  revealed  in  this 
simple  incident.  Year  by  year  each  isolated  group  gets 
new  strength  and  confidence  from  the  thrill  of  its 
wider  brotherhood.  Scarcely  a  week  passes  that  some 
electric  event  does  not  furnish  proof  of  these  tidal 
sympathies. 

Among  a  dozen  recent  occurrences  of  our  own  is 
that  at  San  Diego,  California.    Those  of  social  and 

25 


'I'm 
'I    '.  I'  ' 


! 


i| 


I  111 


:  1 


26 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


business  importance,  those  in  public  office  suddenly 
note  increasing  bands  of  I.  W.  W.  orators  about  the 
streets.    For  practical  reasons  (like  density  of  traffic) 
most  towns  set  apart  certain  spaces  on  which  public 
speaking  is  prohibited.    Sometimes  in  ignorance  and 
sometimes  in   defiance   "to   test   free  speech"   the 
orators  were  found  haranguing  crowds  upon  these  for- 
bidden spots.     Often  this  restricting  ordinance  had 
been  forgotten— religious  and  political  addresses  being 
freely  given  on  these  interdicted  areas.    These  pro- 
moters of  the  I.  W.  W.  act  like  acid  on  parchment; 
the  dimmed  legal  traceries  flash  out  distinct  as  if 
written  an  hour  ago.    No  I.  W.  W.  shall  now  speak 
on  these  reserves,  nor  shall  he  speak  anywhere  else. 
In  the  heat  and  confusion,  all  the  demarcations  are 
lost  and  citizens  proud  of  their  behavior  become  more 
lawless  than  their  invaders.    The  noise  was  such  as  to 
give  unenviable  notoriety  to  this  town  "with  the  best 
climate  in  the  worid."    Just  now  it  is  aflame  with 
speculative  hopes  based  upon  the  early  opening  of 
the  Panama  water  way.    Property  really  frightened 
is  almost  certain  to  be  cruel,  and  therefore  to  be 
shortsighted.    Those  socially  ascendant  in  San  Diego 
"went  to  it"  with  a  high  hand.    There  were  almost  bar- 
baric cruelties,  but  there  was  more  shortsightedness. 
They  imagined  themselves  like  Little  Falls  and  Law- 
rence officials  dealing  only  with  their  own  community. 
"Surely  in  San  Diego  we  can  manage  our  own  affairs 
and  in  our  own  way."    From  one  of  them,  I  heard  the 
familiar  expression,  "But  damnation!    It's  nobody's 
business  outside  this  town."    This  remonstrance  was 
caused  by  criticism  in  papers  further  up  the  state. 


THE  ENLARGf:MENT  OF  THE  PROBLEM 


27 


Criticism  already  rife  in  eastern  papers  ws  naturally 
answered  with  contempt.  A  few  days  later  the  sur- 
prise came.  A  report  on  local  behavior  had  been 
ordered  by  the  Governor  of  the  State.  It  was  pub- 
lished with  maddening  strictures  on  the  methods  of 
these  same  protectors  of  San  Diego.  The  report  was 
met  mih  hot  denials  by  local  patriots.  Then, 
armed  with  the  authority  of  the  State,  the  State's 
attorney  appears  upon  the  scene,  and  the  "business 
of  the  town  becomes  the  business  of  the  State." 

This  same  swift  enlargement  of  the  scene  came  to 
Lawrence,  Massachusr'ts.  There,  too,  it  seemed  at 
first  a  little  matter  only  of  local  concern.  To  cut  such 
a  wage  scale  as  Commissioner  Neil's  Report  has  now 
made  clear,  to  cut  it  because  fifty-four  hours  took 
the  place  of  fifty-six;  to  cut  it  with  so  little  regard 
for  those  affected,  that  no  sort  of  adequate  warning 
or  explanation  was  given,  shows  how  sure  of  itself  the 
mill  ownersliip  felt.  There  was  ground  for  this  as- 
surance. Conditions  in  Lawrence  were  no  worse  than 
in  other  mill  towns,  but  ownership  there  had  shown 
one  doubtful  superiority.  It  could  hold  organized 
labor  effectually  at  bay.  It  could  have  for  itself  all 
that  organization  gives,  but  refuse  it  to  labor.  It 
could  have  generations  of  paternal  tariff -coddling 
from  Government  to  protect  its  product,  at  the  same 
time  that  unprotected  and  competing  labor  was  at 
its  disposal.  These  were  advantages  that  beget  con- 
fidence; a  kind  of  confidence  that  easily  breeds  ar- 
bitrary habits  of  mind.  Thus  the  jar  with  its  rude 
provoking  came  to  Lawrence,  as  it  came  to  San  Diego. 
A  lawyer  said  to  me,  "Wc  arc  trying  up  here  to  mind 


I  ' 


W' 


n 


n 


i   ■ 

pi  I 

■'■;  V 


'Iti! 


fi 


^! 


.5«| 


28 


AMKRICAN   SN'XDICAIJSM 


our  own  business.    I  wouldn't  mind  a  bit  if  the  i^-st  of 
the  world  did  the  same. '        r  thought  a  vigorous  purge 
that  should  clean  his  .        from  the  nausea  of  sociolo- 
gists would  be  a  good  beginning.    They  were  doubtless 
a  nuisance,  these  sociologists,  but  they,  too,  were  a  sign 
of  something  serious.    Their  irritating  curiosity  was 
only  a  bit  of  writing  on  the  wall.    The  State  also  came 
as  at  San  Diego,  then  the  general  Government  looked 
in  upon  the  mill  town.     Men  came,  equipped  by  long 
e-xpcrience  for  their  work.     They  "staged  upon  the 
job."    Pitiless  and  uncolored,  the  facts  concerning 
wages  had  to  come  out.    Employers  under  criticism 
behave  like  the  rest  of  us.    They  put  the  best  foot  for- 
ward, call  attention  to  the  highest  wages,  direct  the 
visitor  to  best  conditions,  precisely,  as  upon  the  other 
side,  labor  points  to  every  haggard  fact  upon  the  scene; 
wretched  housing,  indecencies  and  abuse  of  foremen; 
petty  personal  discriminations,  and  every  item  of  low- 
est and  most  uncertain  labor  income. 

From  socialist  papers  reporting  the  Lawrence  strike, 
I  cut  for  weeks  their  assertions  about  the  wage  scale.' 
Their  understatement  was  much  like  the  overstate- 
ment of   the   management,   even   further  from   the 
truth.     But  now  between  these  two  exaggerations, 
the  agents  of  the  Government,  in  twenty  thousand 
classilied  cases,  came  to  state  the  facts  with  neither 
fear  nor  bias.    This  is  "political  interference,"  most 
cordially  detested  by  business  that  thinks  itself  a 
private  affair.    But  this  "interference"  has  come  to 
stay.    Its  growth  is  continuous  in  every  country.    It 
was  long  ago  said  of  a  religious  movement,  "It  is 
like  a  naked  sword,  its  hilt  in  Rome  and  its  point 


THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  PROBLEM 


2() 


everywhere."  Government  interference  is  more  and 
more  everywhere.  We  in  the  United  States  are  very 
laggard  among  the  nations,  but  not  a  month  passes 
in  which  the  sword's  tip  will  not  show  itself  in  some 
new  center  of  conflict.  //  is  nolhing  in  the  world  bid 
the  groping  insistence  that  the  public  is  justly  concerned 
in  these  disturbances.  The  sword's  point  is  the  public 
point  of  view.  I  the  hand  of  President  Cleveland, 
it  had  a  long  thrust  in  the  case  of  the  Pullman  strike. 
It  was  used  by  Roosevelt  in  the  Anthracite  Coal 
Commission.    It  is  now  a  fi.xed  and  permanent  policy. 

Senators  and  representatives  appeared  at  Lawrence. 
Rumor  hp.d  it  that  Congressional  investigations  were 
at  hand  with  purposes  to  probe  deeper  than  the  strike. 
And  so  this  mill  city  rouses  to  the  fact  that  her  dis- 
tress was  neither  local  nor  private.  Like  many  an- 
other industrial  center  in  recent  years,  she  was  an 
object  lesson  of  industrial  maladjustment.  Of  this 
maladjustment  the  nation  is  becoming  conscious  and 
so  it,  too,  pla}'s  the  sociologist.  Very  slowly  and  with 
much  obstinacy,  we  are  learning  the  great  lesson  that 
neither  the  town  nor  the  state  nor  the  nation  can 
any  longer  act  as  if  it  were  sufficient  unto  itself. 

A  plaintive  Egyptian  Pasha  has  just  told  us  that 
Turkey  could  have  conquered  Italy  "if  left  alone." 
"We  owe  our  defeat,"  he  says,  "to  Egjpt's  neutrality  ^ 
Together  the  nations  had  made  Egypt  "neutral"  and 
therefore  Turkey  could  not  use  it  as  a  highway  for 
troops,  any  more  than  Italy  could  strike  Turkey  by 
closing  the  Dardanelles.  This  water  way,  too,  was 
neutralized — set  apart  by  world  agreement  as  a  kind 
of  consecrated  space  which  lesser  units  should  respect. 


1 


1 


i  I 


I 


-r. 

I  J] 


i 


I 


30 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


For  the  first  time,  town  after  town,  like  Lawrence, 
Pittsburg  and  Little  Falls  learns  with  disgust,  like 
the  Turks,  that  it  must  act  with  reference  to  the  en- 
velopmg  life  of  which  it  is  an  integral  and  living  part. 
Oood  ciUzens  must  not  begin  by  themselves  playing 
the  anarchist.    In  the  last  year  several  communities 
have  been  robustly  acting  the  anarchist  role. 
_  The  most  fundamental  of  all  anarchies  is  the  prac- 
tical contempt  for  laws  of  our  own  making      Yet 
several  of  these  centers  have  been  under  provocation 
so  acute  as  to  excite  sympathetic  understanding     In 
other  Western  towns,  I  saw  I.  W.  VV.  behavior  of  so 
galhng  a  nature,  that  no  community  known  to  me  in 
the  United  States  would  have  borne  itself  with  dignity 
or  perfect  law-abidingness. 
There  is  a  hne  in  Virgil  which  runs: 

If  I  cannot  bend  the  powers  above, 
I  will  rouse  Hell. 

The  more  bumptious  of  those  raiding  these  towns 
had  not  even  called  upon  the  "powers  above  "    They 
were  very  open  in  their  declaration  that "  to  raise  hell  " 
was  one  of  their  hearts'  desires.     It  is  true,   that 
friends  of  theirs  had  been  roughly  and  illegally  handled 
This  was  their  excuse.     The  authorities  said  they 
feared  trouble  and  for  this  reason  acted   as  those 
who  deal  with  a  "situation  rather  than  with  a  theory  " 
A  social  conflict  has  arisen  among  us  between  a 
"situation"  and  a  "theory."    Whatever  our  accepted 
law  and  order"  may  mean,  it  is  challenged  by  the 
socialist  movement  as  a  whole  and  very  sharply  chal- 
lenged by  a  growing  revolutionary  section  known  as 


THE   ENI.ARGEMENT  OF  THE   PROBLEM  31 

the  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World."  They  are 
not  in  the  least  disturbed  that  we  name  them  "out- 
laws." If  a  half  of  what  they  say  of  our  present 
society  is  true,  the  "outlaw"  is  the  one  heroic  figure 
in  our  midst. 

At  the  heart  of  the  movement  is  an  impulse  and  a 
motive  which  no  one  with  ope"  mind  can  really  see 
without  respect.  The  hectoring  crudities  of  the  move- 
ment are  so  in  evidence,  as  to  blot  out  what  h  best 
in  an  idealism  which  we  should  not  lose.  To  forget 
that  the  movement  has  its  idealism  is  not  only  to 
mistake  it  as  a  whole,  but  very  wretchedly  to  bungle 
in  our  practical  rcbtions  with  it.  Thus  far  I.  W.  W. 
victories  have  been  lorgcly  won  by  the  blunders 
of  their  enemies.  This  will  continue  until  we 
know  better  what  socialism  in  general  really  means 
and  why  a  more  giddy  and  harassing  form  of  it  now 
appears. 

If  it  could  become,  once  for  all,  clear  to  us  what 
this  means,  it  would  save  us  from  immeasurable  ills. 
The  government  has  taken  no  one  of  its  ungainly 
steps  in  "interference"  which  was  not  forced  upon  it 
by  the  vague  but  importunate  pressure  of  a  changing 
public  opinion.  No  politician  has  a  feather's  weight 
of  influence  in  these  interferences,  beyond  what  the 
atmospheric  pressure  of  this  general  opinion  gives  him. 
The  scurviest  demagogue  can  only  take  advantage 
of  it. 

Beginning  with  transportation;  then  with  larger 
businesses  in  closest  affiliation  with  these  main  ar- 
teries of  traffic,  the  public  hns  rome  to  feel  that  these 
are  social  as  well  as  private  affairs.    Above  .ill.  it 


' 

i 

;     1 

I. 

i 

^i 


i 


i:\ 


1 


32 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


,'f 


has  come  to  feci  that  they  arc  no  longer  to  be  kept 
as  the  secret  speculative  tools  of  finance. 

When  Woodrow  Wilson  said  that  these  were  public 
rather  than  i)rivate,  he  was  merely  interpreting  the 
growing  collective  opinion  in  this  coi  -itry.  Until  the 
more  masterful  holders  of  these  centers  of  economic 
power  recognize  this  and  enter  with  some  heartiness 
into  more  sympathetic  cooperation  with  the  new  and 
altered  opinion,  both  political  and  industrial  friction 
will  increase. 

Against  the  spirit  of  secrecy  and  absolutism  in 
this  more  powerful  business  management,  the  protest 
rises.    Its  warning  comes  from  all  those  who  would 
"regulate"  these  forces.    It  comes  from  collectivists, 
from  socialists  of  every  shade,  and  now,  with  shrill 
and  mocking  challenge,  from  a  new  "Order"  of  the 
I.  W.  W.    It  is  a  dangerous  form  of  dullness  merely 
to  sniff  at  this  latest  note  of  protest.    It  is  a  part  of 
soinething  far  greater  than  itself.    Roughly,  the  word 
socialism  stands  for  this  larger  thing,  but  especially 
about  the  spirit  of  this  movement,  foggy  misconcep- 
tions still  cling.    A  further  appeal  must  be  made  to 
the  reader's  patience  in  a  brief  attempt  to  illustrate 
what  seem  to  the  writer  some  errors  in  interpreting 
the  spirit  and  motive  of  the  socialist  protest  and  still 
more  in  all  attempts  to  understand  the  I.  W.  W. 


II!     lilt 

f  m 


IV 


^1 


THE  PLAGUE  OF  MISCONCEPTIONS 

(I) 

With  cynical  hilarity  a  business  friend  has  just 
read  to  me  a  proposal  by  Mr.  Debs  to  raise  at  once 
"$500,000  for  the  approaching  socialist  campaign." 
"There  you  have  it,  like  a  staged  farce.  The  starved 
millions,  living  on  the  margin  of  want,  are  to  paint 
the  country  red  with  two  million  votes  for  Debs  and 
Seidel.  Not  a  nickel  from  the  big  interests,  no  black- 
mailing of  corporations,  but  the  whole  half  million  sub- 
scribed by  the  starving,  downtrodden  working  class." 
"And  this,"  he  adds,  "is  but  an  item.  They  pour 
thousands  of  dollars  into  Lawrence  and  a  dozen  other 
struck  towns  at  the  same  time.  They  have  just  been 
buncoed  out  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  to  free  the 
McNamaras.  They  are  paying  for  costly  conventions, 
hundreds  of  lectures,  and  a  very  expensive  press. 
Doesn't  such  penury  wring  the  heart?" 

In  this  sportive  mood  he  filled  in  other  features  of 
the  comedy,  ending  w-ith  that  annihilating  phrase — 
"They  must  be  destitute  of  humor." 

This  gentleman  had  been  telling  a  great  deal  of 
truth,  but  by  no  means  all  of  it  or  the  most  important 
part  of  it.  The.se  objects  of  his  lampooning  are  rais- 
ing far  larger  funds  than  he  knew.  They  are  doing 
it  all  over  the  world,  in  countries  where  the  purchasing 

33 


t 

ti  4  if 


Uj 


i' 


I  u 


34 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


£.  nil 

f  m 


power  of  the  year's  income  is  far  lower  than  in  the 
United  States.  They  have  for  many  >ears  been  doing 
it  on  a  scale  which  most  well-to-do  people  would  con- 
sider insane  or  criminal.  The  propertied  classes  very 
generally  shuffle  and  kick  at  ordinary  taxes,  but  with 
voluntary  devotion  milli(ms  of  working  men  and 
women  bring  hard  earned  m<jne\-  to  support  an  idea. 
They  are  not  doing  tliis  in  spurts  of  enthusiasm, 
but  With  tireless  persistency,  sustained  bv  a  great 
faith. 

I  read  for  a  year  a  sodalist  paper  in  which  I  never 
saw  a  single  advertisement.     Debts  were  incurred  to 
start  it.    Deficits  toilovved  like  a  shadow,    .\sked  how 
they  went  on  with  ^uch  a  load:  "VYXv.  we  have  to 
give  a  lot  oi  time  free,  and  beg  the  rest  from  com- 
rades.    Two  in  the  otfice  work  three  or  four  hours  a 
day  after  their  own  work  is  done  and  never  take  a 
cent.^  One  woman  has  a  little  money  and  gives  all 
her  time.     We  have  our  pious  formulas.     'He  who 
quickly  gives,  gives  twice":  'Who  gives  himself  gives 
better  than  his  coin.'  "    But  no  part  of  our  citizenship 
puts  these  pieties  to  more  instant  or  wider  use  than 
socialists. 

If  richer  folk  were  taxed  according  to  their  means, 
>'ne  half  oi  that  which  thousands  of  socialists  in  our 
midst  are  frceh'  taxing  them.selves.  it  would  be  thought 
an  outrage  and  a  tyranny  The  sacrinces  to  carr/'on 
the  socialist  sheet  just  mentioned  are  but  a  leaf  from 
a  thick  book.  What  goes  ..m  in  that  ding-/  ofice  is 
only  a  very  tiny  sample.  In  man}-  himdreds  of  other 
otfices  the  <inie  stcry  o;uiU  be  told.    .\nd  vet  the  sum 


,u: 


-iis  press  aciiviiy  is  itscil  also  but  a  iraction 


THK    I'LACUr.  Ol     MISCON't  KITIONS 


,35 


of  the  unpaid  or  poorly  paid  service  which  this  cause 
iu).v  inspin-s  in  tlie  world. 

One  would  think  that  devotions  like  these  might 
give  some  seriousness  even  to  the  jauntiest  critic.  It 
is  not  for  nothing  ifiat  great  multitudes  in  twenty 
(lilTerent  countries  work  like  that,  'fhey  do  not  U()on 
principle  hold  out  >tar  after  year  in  spite  of  periK-tual 
defeats  and  at  sut  h  diiei't  and  heavy  costs  excejjt 
for  something  lu-licved  to  he  of  life  and  death  impor- 
tance. Many  of  them  pay  this  price  for  what  they 
know  never  can  be  theirs.  On  a  bench  by  the  Capitol 
in  Richmond,  Virginia,  I  sat  one  night  after  a  socialist 
meeting  with  an  old  man  who  had  seen  about  all  one 
could  see  of  service  in  the  Confederate  cause.  lie  had 
for  years  given  himself  to  build  up  a  socialist  sentiment 
in  that  community.  "  I  shall  not  Uve,"  he  said,  "  to  see 
even  the  beginning  of  it.  But  it  is  a  great  cause."  He 
was  one  of  an  army,  far  greater  than  the  South  sent 
to  the  field,  who  know  that  no  extra  penny  can  come 
to  them,  but  they  bring  their  offerings  just  the  same. 

This  inner  spirit  and  soul  of  a  great  movement  is 
what  my  business  friend  did  not  see.  Not  seeing  it, 
there  was  only  an  occasion  for  mockery. 

It  was  only  an  absurdity  to  this  critic  that  men 
and  women  who  could  give  so  much  money  for  their 
cause  should  claim  to  have  a  serious  grievance.  "■  What 
do  they  want?"  he  asked.  "Their  reckless  giving  is 
proof  enough  that  they  are  getting  on;  otherwise  they 
couldn't  give  it."  He  was  irritated  by  the  aggressions 
of  discontent  which  seemed  to  him  stupidly  unjusti- 
fied. "The  more  they  get  on,"  he  areued.  "  the  worse 
they  behave." 


I' 


ft' 


.  ^M 


M 


% 


4.?. 


3« 


AMLRIC.W  SVXDfcALISM 


This  is  (he  fact  about  labor's  discontent.     It  fad. 
on   Us  own   betterment.     It   increas.s   because   our 
prosperities  and  the  general  social  atmosphere  have 
created  and  stimulated  in  every  class  new  wants  and 
new  deter-iiinations.     Of  a  struggle  that  has  beco.ne 
sacred  to  us  Kdnu.nd   Hurke  spoke  in  the   Kngli.h 
Parliament.    He  heard  the  t..ry  taunt  that  the  Amer- 
icans  were   not   oppressed,    to   which   he   answered: 
^  Mr.  Speaker,  the  question  is  not  whether  the  Amer- 
icans are  oppressed  or  not;  but  whether  they  think 
they  are." 

That  increasing  millions  in  the  wage  receiving  class 
have  come  to  think  as  they  do  about  economic  imper- 
fections over  which  men  have  control,  constitutes  our 
industrial  problem  as  its  political  counterpart  was 
the  i)roblcm  of  our  rebellious  forebears. 

These  bree.ling  dissatisfactions  constitute  a  pres- 
sure from  below  that  will  be  neither  shamed  nor 
checked  by  optimistic  p'atitudes  about  the  ri^e  of 
wages.  On  the  long  curves,  generation  by  generation 
the  purchasing  power  of  labor's  income  has  nVen  and 
the  working  hours  are  fewer.  The  wiser  socialists 
know  this  and  proclaim  it. 

"What,  then,  is  the  fuss  about?"  The  fuss  ha-^  to 
do  with  a  thing  that  is  wholly  relaUve.  This  may 
have  the  simplest  graphic  expression 


1812 


1912 


Let  the  upper  line  .land  for  the  increasing  income  of 
i'-'-.-i^^-iuu:,  .iiiu  tno  iower  iine  for  the  in- 


I'Mi;  i'i,.\(;i!i;  oi    misconc  ki-iions 


.^7 


crcuMfiK  prosp-rliy  „f  |,,|„,r.     H„i|,  Ikivv  risen.  \m\ 
(he  Will  lodo  ,iavc  gained  relatively  far  tnore  ihati 
Ihe  wage  earner.     In  ||„.  Ifnile.l  Slates,  the  distance 
between  the  large  incomes  and  the  small  ones  seems 
to  have  grown  steadily  through   Ihe  eenlury.      i  he 
wage  earner's  eontention  thai  he  should  have  a  rela- 
tively larger  share  in  wealth-produt  lion  is  justilied. 
As  he  has  had  to  light  for  this  in  the  past,  he  will 
light  for  it  in  the  futuri'.    Soeialism  puts  a  new  weapon 
into  his  hands.    To  the  old  weapon  of  the  trade  union. 
it  now  adds  an  instrument  thai  cuts  deeper  ;ind  has 
a  longer  thrust.    That  the  masses  are  to  use  this  weap- 
on with  all  the  force  and  cunning  at  their  command 
is  now  a  certainty  that  we  need  not  question.    Largely 
on  account  of  the  extent  and  rawness  of  our  immigra 
tion.  nowhiTC  will  they  um    ft  more  ruthlessly  than 
in  the  United  Stales.    No  nation  otTers  such  an  arena. 
The  material  advantages  wo  jnit  at  the  disposal  of 
labor;  all  the  stalking  laxities  that  pass  for  liberty,' 
every  easy  facility  for  the  widest  scattering  of  rev(i- 
lutionary  literature,  are  illustrations  of  the  field  and 
the  occasion  we  open  to  this  socialistic  insurgency  as 
it  overflows  into  new  and  threatening'  shapes. 


* 

m 

Iff 

% 

M 

■■1 

f 

i 


r 


'  I 


(11) 

Especially  among  our  more  prosperous  folk,  if  a 
"quiz"  could  be  held  on  the  causes  and  nature  of  the 

I  ha\c  seen  strikes  in  whuh  extreme  violence  lasted  for  weeks 
with  much  sh,H>tin>:.  and  yet  Kims  and  pistols  were  allowed  ih.-  freest 
sellmK  and  the  s;doons  faithfully  kept  open,  though  thiy  were  the 

/— ^'  -•,•>,■:;;   !::   rt«i:c  ui    Ihi;  ffiuil   Liruldi  LUJcS 

With  which  the  local  court  was  ()lagued. 


n 


^j^jL^'mmi^i 


38  AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 

present  strain  and  turbulence  between  capital  and 
labor,  I  should  submit  as  the  first  question  this:  Why 
does  the  word  "scab"  carry  with  it  an  indignity  so 
poignant?   To  Justify  the  scab  or  to  condemn  him  has 
no  part  in  the  question.    It  is  only  sought  to  explain 
him  and  the  savage  animosities  he  excites.    An  en- 
gineer upon  one  of  our  great  structures  had  a  strike. 
He  crushed  it  with  strike-breakers  within  a  week. 
When  the  work  was  done,  I  asked  1  im  about  the  men 
who  took  tLe  places  of  those  who  left.     "A  few  of 
them,"  he  said,  "were  good  fellows,  but  the  bulk  of 
them^  were  skunks."    I  tried  to  learn  why  this  im- 
pression had  been  made  upon  him,  but  could  not  get 
beyond  this  fact  of  explosive  contempt. 

In  a  sharp  labor  disturbance,  I  have  seen  a  man 
wholly  unruffled  under  such  words  as  Uar,  coward  and 
thief,  but  the  monosyllable  "scab"  had  an  instan- 
taneous effect  like  a  dash  of  vitriol  in  the  face.   During 
the  recent  strike  at  Lawrence  a  generous  and  active 
friend  of  the  strikers  asked  a  trade  um'on  official  if 
her  organization  was  not  really  scabbing  against  the 
large  body  of  men  and  women  who  had  left  the  mills. 
I  saw  the  woman  to  whom  the  question  was  put  flush 
hot  as  if  insulted.    A  Uttle  later,  the  tears  in  her  eyes, 
she  left  her  office  saying,  "I  cannot  stand  it,  I  cannot 
stand  it." 

These  instances  are  neither  exceptional  nor  do  they 
exaggerate  by  a  tittle  the  mordant  power  of  this  word. 
Really  to  answer  this  question;  really  to  see  what  the 
maddened  protest  implies  of  guilt  and  treachery  to 
one's  own,  is  a  good  first  step  in  understanding  what 
is  before  us  of  impending  tasks. 


:>?lj^-»i^:#» 


THE  PLAGUE  OF  MISCONCEPTIONS  39 

A  good  second  to  the  question  about  the  scab,  con- 
cerns the  strike  itself.     It  is  so  incessant;  reaches 
year  after  year,  in  a  dozen  countries  so  many  millions 
of  people  and  shows  no  sign  of  abating. 

What  explanation  have  we  of  this?  In  the  twitter 
of  the  drawing-room  it  is  "perversity,"  "ignorance  " 
"wickedness,"  "ingratitude,"  and  with  the  angered 
busmess  man,  it  is  oftenest  "labor  poisoned  and  mis- 
guided by  the  agitator." 

^  That,  at  this  date,  puerilities  like  these  should  have 
influence  with  rational  folk  is  as  strange  as  it  is  omi- 
nous. Here,  as  in  moving  pictures  before  us,  are  events 
mvolving  on  any  calendar  day  far  more  bitterness 
than  the  sharp  agonies  on  the  down-going  Titanic. 
In  that  year  in  the  world's  workhouse  more  than 
four  hundred  thousand  men  were  out  on  long  strikes 
and  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  in  lesser  ones. 
With  their  families  this  stands  for  a  population  like 
that  of  a  larger  state.  Nor  is  there  any  outer  fate  of 
compulsion  like  that  of  the  Titanic  disaster. 

The  determining  majority  of  these  strikers,  accord- 
ing to  their  own  law,  deliberately  took  up  the  burden 
the  weight  of  which  they  know  far  better  than  any 
or  all  others.    The  unvoiced  misery  of  a  long  strike  is 
always  in  the  background.     It  is  among  the  wives 
the  weaker  workers,  the  more  timid,  those  that  have 
saved  no  money,  those  that  have  passed  their  prime, 
and  those  in  debt  or  with  mortgaged  homes.     It  is 
among  such  as  these  that  the  main  tragedy  goes  on, 
and  for  the  thousandth  time,  it  is  entered  upon.    It 
is  these  who  live  in  the  tradition  of  defeat  and  suffer- 
ing caused  by  strikes.    Veterans  are  always  there  to 


I 


hm 


I ' 


■  \ 


■#-tl 


40 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


/: 


If 


tell  them  that  it  costs.  But  in  the  face  of  it  all,  in 
dreary  succession,  it  still  goes  on.  Of  a  strike  at  this 
moment  wearing  itself  out  among  English  dockers, 
a  London  reporter  thus  speaks: 

The  suffering  of  the  strikers'  families  has  become  so  dreadful 
that  the  public  is  fairly  paralyzed  with  horror.  The  streets  in 
the  dockyards  districts  are  tilled  with  hollow-eyed  women  and 
children,  reduced  almost  to  skeletons  and  so  weak  that  they  are 
hardly  able  to  stand. 

Many  have  died  almost  wholly  of  starvation.  The  number 
of  the  victims  is  so  great  that  the  authorities  and  private  chari- 
table organizations  are  unable  to  cope  with  the  situation. 

The  official  explanation  that  the  rivalries  of  a  few 
leaders  give  us  all  the  answer  we  need  is  pitiable.  Of 
the  strike  movement  as  a  whole,  it  does  not  contain 
even  a  paltry  half-truth.  I  have  a  fairly  close  personal 
record  of  eighteen  strikes.  Of  two  of  them,  conceiv- 
ably three,  the  cause  may  be  attributed  to  conscience- 
less or  imperilled  leadership.  But  in  the  majority  of 
strikes  the  world  over  the  leaders  are  forced  to  the  fight- 
ing line  by  the  workers  behind  them.  For  the  most  part 
this  leadership  is  a  symptom  and  result,  not  a  cause. 

On  the  surface  of  a  serious  strike  are  conspicuous 
and  frisky  gaieties.  Youth  and  tlie  irresponsible  are 
so  much  in  evidence  that  the  public  does  not  see  the 
background  with  its  silences  and  distress.  To  stagger 
on.  decade  after  decade,  under  a  self-imposed  immola- 
tion like  this,  must  have  a  cause  not  accounted  for  by 
petulant  phrases.  The  unexplained  obstinacy  with 
which  this  costly  warfare  goes  on  is  the  more  strange 
because  for  half  a  century  in  several  countries  elabo- 
rate mechanisms  have  been  devised  to  check  and 


THE   PLAGUE  OF   MISCONCEPTIONS  41 

soften  these  revolts.  Arbitration,  conciliation,  slid- 
ing scales,  trade  agreements,  ^-ach  in  its  time  has 
been  hailed  as  peace  bringer.  Each  has  done  its  little 
work,  but,  tearing  through  them  all,  the  gathering 
unrest  makes  its  way  as  if  these  buffers  had  no  exist- 
ence. Human  tenacities  like  these  have  no  explain- 
ing, except  in  terms  of  structural  changes  in  society. 
A  letter  describing  mere  glimpses  of  this  suffering  in 
the  recent  English  coal  strike  adds,  "There  are  such 
depths  of  it,  that  three  days  were  all  that  I  could 
physically  stand  merely  to  observe  it,  and  yet  among 
those  suffering  most  the  determination  to  face  it  out 
was  almost  fierce." 

This  is  a  part  of  the  "quiz."    Why?    Behind  all 
perversiUes,  blunders,  betrayals  and  defeats,— why 
do  these  multituc'^s  continue  to  load  themselves  with 
sacrifices  so  heavy?    No  copy-book  answer  can  be 
given  to  these  quesdons,  but  a  larger  answer  is  possible 
in  terms  of  changing  social  and  economic  experience. 
In  the  second  quarter  of  the  last  century  an  Austrian 
Minister  thought  it  an  adequate  account  of  the  demo- 
craUc  uprising  in  Italy,  that  it  was  "a  mere  disease 
of  envy  and  irreligion."    He  was  sure  that  a  little 
wholesome  severity  would  at  once  restore  these  dis- 
turbers to  the  ways  of  obedience  and  common  sense. 
This   cxplanadon   and   the   remedy   proposed    now 
satisfy  only  our  humor.    But  it  is  a  bit  of  history  that 
may  well  serve  us  as  a  mirror.    In  that  feudal  explana- 
tion and  remedy,  we  may  see  ourselves  in  presence 
of  our  own  industrial  rebels.     We  now  know  that 
those  early  nineteenth  century  strikers,  sick  with 
*'envy  and  irreligion,"  were  fighting  for  poIiUcal 


'I 


(I 


■  !  ■ 
( 


^    . 


i  '■    i 


i 


m 


III 


II:, 


■^■Miir 


42 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


1: 


<""'  r 


Ii^ 


M  i^ 


freedom.    At  appalling  costs  they  were  striking  poliii- 
colly.    Today  the  strike  is  consciously  upon  the  field 
of  industry.    It  is  still  the  old  rebelling  against  auto- 
cratic usages  that  have  come  first  under  criticism  and 
suspicion,  then  under  direct  attack.     The  polidcal 
uprisings  that  crowd  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  were  full  of  havoc,  waste  and  lawlessness, 
precisely  like  our  own  strikes.      There  was  much 
vanity  and  self-seeking  in  many  of  the  leaders  then 
as  now.    But  upon  the  whole,  the  political  strikers 
of  those  days  had  the  valor  and  disinterestedness 
which  those  must  have,  who  break  the  hardened 
conventions  of  their  time  and  open  the  ways  of  growth 
to  larger  and  freer  life. 

In  those  earlier  days,  the  enemy  at  which  the  pni;>- 
ical  strikers  aimed  was  arbitrary  authority.  It  was 
an  authority  always  jusdfying  itself  by  whatever  tra- 
ditional sanctity  had  power  over  the  imagination  of 
the  time;— religion,  patriorism,  and  existing  "law 
and  order,"  as  interpreted  by  those  in  office.  Within 
these  symbols,  property  interests  and  social  proprieries 
solemnly  cloaked  themselves  as  they  do  today.  They 
were  not  necessarily  hypocrites.  There  is  a  terrible 
French  utterance  which  most  of  us  should  learn  by 
heart,  "Why  be  a  hypocrite,  when  it  is  so  easy  to  de- 
ceive yourself?" 

Whatever  is  precious  in  our  private  belongings  leads 
readily  to  much  deceiving  and  neither  the  defenders  of 
the  existing  system  nor  those  who  rise  against  it  will 
escape  the  danger  in  these  hypocrisies.  Few  social 
groups  have  more  frailties  than  polidcal  or  industrial 
strikers.    They  are  forever  the  easy  butt  of  ridicule 


:<l:i^. 


THE  PLAGUE  OF  MISCONCEPTIONS  43 

in  their  time.  A  classmate  of  Wendell  Phillips  told 
me  that  he  saw  the  coming  agitator  practising  his 
oratories  before  a  glass  and  always  had  thereafter 
proper  contempt  for  him.  He  would  neither  hear 
him  speak  nor  consider  his  opinions.  The  test  is 
rather  contemptible,  but  it  is  probably  as  old  as  the 
history  of  man's  likes  and  dislikes. 

These  periods  of  revolutionary  change  are  not  to 
be  measured  by  frailties  in  their  leaders.    The  only 
measure  is  the  necessity  of   the  movement  itself. 
Political  and  religious  authority  had  reached  an  in- 
tolerable stage  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  and 
enough  brave  men  had  found  it  out  to  make  a  life-and- 
death  issue.    For  two  generations,  in  spite  of  much 
squalid  vanity  and  dreary  demagogic  play,  it  was  a 
rousing  struggle  for  an  enlarged  and  richer  human 
life.    These  wider  opportunities  for  the  mass  of  men 
were  plainly  impossible  until  the  pretentious  pieties 
of  authority,  arbitrarily  enforced,  were  beaten.    But 
arbitrary  power  did  not  then  quit  the  scene.    It  slowly 
changed  its  form,  and  on  the  field  of  industry  and 
commerce  it  grew  great  and  held  its  own.    Its  cumu- 
lating power  has  now  reached  a  climax.     It  stalks 
among  us  so  flauntingly  that  millions  of  common 
folk  can  see  it.    It  has  passed  from  the  speculations 
of  students  to  the  growling  remonstrance  of  masses 
of  men.    In  an  age  grown  acute  with  democratic  feel- 
ing, in  days  when  political  power  or  what  is  believed 
to  be  such  is  passing  to  the  people  through  direct 
primaries,  recalls  and  such  like  devices,  our  economic 
destinies  seem  still  to  be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  elusive 
and  shadowy  autJiorities  as  ruthless  as  their  predeces- 


II 


ilRI 


SI  -ll* 


J, 


k 


sip 


ff: 


44 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


u: 


u  i^ 


sors.    Finance  ana  markets  are  their  throne.    They, 
too,  have  their  solemn  draperies,  their  secrecies,  and 
neighborly  interchange  of  inside  information.    Here 
in  our  midst  is  the  real  heart  of  monopoly  power. 
Here  are  the  obvious  sources  of  that  ludicrous  over- 
loading of  individuals  with  wealth.     The  Power  of 
Kings  has  not  been  greater,  but  it  is  the  unknown  use 
of  this  vast  power,  its  essentially  arbitrary  character, 
that  the  people  again  have  come  to  challenge.    It 
seems  to  them  in  very  deadly  conflict  with  every 
essential  of  real  liberty.     Multitudes,  no  longer  to 
be  silenced,  are  everywhere  asking  what  respect  or 
patience  they  should  have  with  a  system  producing 
day  by  day  the  kind  of  inequality  now  visible  in  the 
United  States.    Especially  are  tiiey  asking  about  the 
measure  and  uses  of  this  power  which  one  or  two  per 
cent  of  the  people  now  coin  for  themselves.    They 
no  longer  ask,  but  know  that  democracy,  or  any  real 
approach  to  it,  is  impossible  until  these  privileged 
economic   resources   are   themselves  in  some  sense 
democratized.    Multitudes  now  believe  that  the  wage 
system  is  but  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  these 
powers.    Of  the  dizzy  heights  of  finance  and  credit 
labor  knows  nothing,  and  even  special  students  war 
with  each  other  over  its  most  elemental  explanation; 
but  of  the  "wage  system"  the  worker  has  his  own 
opinion,  founded  on  experience.    Labor  therefore  be- 
gins its  rebellion  at  this  point.    It  is  striking  at  the 
kind  of  power  that  appears  through  this  wage  system. 
Its  very  ignorance  of  the  power  behind,  deepens  its 
suspicions.     But  for  us  just  now,  it  is  a  dangerous 
obliquity  not  to  recognize  that  capitalists  cannot  con- 


:^^9t^m^^^mm^::'m:.:^^ 


THE  PLAGUE  OF  MISCONCEPTION'S 


45 


tinue  to  work  those  forces  in  the  old  arbitrary  spirit. 
If  they  insist  upon  this  at  the  points  (as  in  public  utili- 
ties)  directly  and  sensitively  touching  the  general 
welfare,  such  managers  will  create  their  own  trouble, 
and  every  day  they  will  more  and  more  create  it. 
They  will  themselves  be  responsible  for  it,  because 
they  insist  upon  a  method  and,  above  all,  upon  a 
spirit  that  is  outgrown.    At  tliese  more  developed  stages 
in  the  wage  system,  there  is  from  now  on  not  a  step 
toward  security  or  progress,  unless  labor  (as  well  as 
the  public)  is  allowed  some  voice  in  management. 
This  is  the  lesson  which  every  industrial  autocrat 
has  to  learn.    Strictly  on  this  issue,  the  side  of  the 
striker  is  as  sacred  as  any  struggling  reform  in  human 
history.    It  has  long  been  as  sacred  as  at  present,  but 
the  practically  eventful  fact  now  is  that  millions  of 
wage  earners  have  become  sensitively  conscious  of 
the  situation.    They  need  no  more  evidence  that  the 
old  wage  method  arbitrarily  enforced  shuts  them  too 
sharply  out  of  privileges  and  rights  that  should  be 
theirs.    They  are  so  convinced  of  this,  and  the  army 
of  them  has  grown  so  great,  as  to  constitute  a  problem 
that  no  advanced  society  will  safely  ignore. 

Hundreds  of  employers  in  the  world,  and  a  few 
great  ones,  are  admitting  all  this  and  doing  their 
best  to  act  upon  it.  They  are  creating  organs  through 
which  labor  may  have  its  representation  in  manage- 
ment. This  frankly  assumes  that  in  highly  organized 
industries,  arbitrary  wage  systems  have  had  their  day. 
It  is  popularly  seen  that  our  age  is  supremely  the  age 
of  industrial  organization.  If  it  is  that,  why  should 
labor  be  excluded  from  its  benefits?    But  of  more 


'::  -.4- 


46 


American  syndicalism 


/: 


significance  still  is  it  that  the  new  prindple  of  pro- 
gressively democratized  management  demands  the  edu- 
cation of  employer  and  laborer  alike.    Now  the  educa- 
tion of  labor  cannot  longer  be  kept  outside  this  common 
organization.  It  may  go  on  in  excluded  and  hostile  areas 
with  all  the  dangers  that  imports.   Or  it  may  go  on  in 
essential  and  increasing  partnership  with  management. 
To  set  our  faces  henceforth  in  this  direction,  to 
understand  that  this  inclusive  association,  though 
it  take  a  century,  is  the  way  of  safety  and  the  way 
of  growth,  is  the  lesson  to  be  learned,  especially  in 
the  United  States.     One  of  the  most  successful  of 
English  business  men  now  in  Parliament  recently 
spent  six  weeks  in  this  country.    He  saw  a  great  many 
of  our  larger  employers.    I  heard  him  asked  about  his 
impressions.    One  of  them  was  this.    "So  many  of 
your  big  men  don't  seem  to  me  to  realize  in  the  least 
what  is  happening." 

Let  us  begin  by  avoiding  the  blunder  of  that  auto- 
crat in  Austria,  that  our  present  insurrection  is  "a 
mere  disease  of  envy  and  irreligion."    This  is  not  in 
the  least  "what  is  happening."    The  harsh  and  muti- 
nous protest  of  our  I.  W.  W.  is  to  be  judged  solely  in 
its  relation  to  a  vastly  larger  democratic  rising  against 
the  absolutism  and  masked  economic  privilege  of 
our  own  day.    Cynical  men  of  the  world  will  make 
light  of  this  belief  of  the  many.    It  will  be  so  easy  for 
them  to  show  the  muddled  misconceptions  in  the 
"mass-conviction,"  but  for  what  we  have  here  in 
hand,  it  is  enough  that  the  conviction  is  real  and  that 
it  has  won  alliances  and  qui.e  strength  enough  to 
make  its  reactions  felt  in  our  political  life. 


fA,v 


i.._V_ 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 

If  the  entire  movement  known  as  Socialism  (includ- 
ing its  newer  and  more  audacious  forms)  is  to  be  stud- 
ied with  any  profit,  it  must  be  measured  by  other 
competing  attempts  to  remedy  evils  and  inequalities 
against  which  modem  society  has  risen.  Neither 
Socialism  nor  Syndicalism  is  alone  in  the  field  against 
the  recognized  facts  of  social  injustice.  In  forms 
public  and  private,  compulsory  and  voluntary,  we 
have  at  last  an  accessible  record  of  classified  attempts 
to  check  and  to  remove  these  ills.  Socialism  owes 
much  of  its  vigor  and  achievement  to  the  convic- 
tion that  these  previous  attempts  have  failed  because 
too  exclusively  in  control  of  "the  master  class,"  and 
its  interests.  It  is  not  open  to  question  that  the  his- 
tory of  reform  is  the  history  of  disappointment.  It 
is  as  if  nature  could  not  get  its  newer  and  harder  tasks 
performed  without  overloading  man  with  expectation 
and  hope.  From  the  upper  flights  of  these  expecta- 
tions, probably  no  instance  can  be  given  of  reform  in 
religion,  politics,  or  education  whose  ripening  fruit 
matched  in  the  slightest  the  vehement  confidence 
from  which  the  reform  sprang.  This  is  not  only  true 
of  the  very  greatest  of  the  worid's  inspirers:  it  is  not 
only  true  of  men  of  emotional  impelling  like  St.  Simon, 
Fourier,  or  Mazzini:  it  is  true  of  those  as  cool  and 
disciplined  as  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Richard  Cobden. 

47 


m 


m 


:i  i.:^.i 


48 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


I    I 


|.  &ii 


Compared  with  Mills'  splendid  hopes  for  representa- 
tive govcrnmfnl  (and  what  it  "would  hasten  of  great 
and  fundamental  reforms"),  the  actual  thing  obtained 
looks  pallid  enough. 

Here  in  the  United  States  every  step  in  the  swift 
coming  of  direct  primaries,  initiative,  referendum, 
and  recall  records  the  disappointment  of  our  people 
with  legislative  and  legal  procedure.    It  is  a  fact  that 
effective  political  power  has   been   kept    from    the 
people.    It  is  the  gist  of  this  new  protest  that  the 
broad,  inclusive  interests  have  been  in  no  vital  sense 
"represented."    To  get  this  representation  is  now  a 
world  fight.    Everywhere  it  is  seen  that  if  democracy 
is  to  be  real  it  must  have  a  far  broader  economic  basis. 
This  is  not  a  cry  of  the  cranks  alone.   It  appears  among 
the  very  ablest  students  of  politics.    In  the  stiff  vol- 
umes of  Ostrogorski,!  which  won  high  praise  from 
James  Bryce,  our  own  sinning  against  genuine  repre- 
sentation is  set  down  in  pages  cruel  with  veracity. 
In  his  recent  study,  Democracy  and  tlic  Party  System, 
a  single  passage  from  his  concluding  chapter  shows 
us  how  he  would  broaden  these  economic  foundations 
of  our  political  life.    He  sees  how  the  people's  choice 
is  choked  and  defeated  in  the  Senate— Federal  and 
State.    He  asserts  that  the  weaker  economic  interests 
have  no  representation  there.   He  then  adds: 

Conflicts  arc  getting  more  and  more  bitter,  clouds  arc  gather- 
ing thick  in  the  social  sky,  and  it  is  on  the  arbitraments  of  the 
Senate  that  social  peace  will  dcpc  nd.  But  how  can  fair  judg- 
ment be  secured  if  the  representation  of  economic  interests  in 

'  Democracy  and  the  organization  of  Political  Parties,  Macmillan. 


L.^ 


1 


^^',?'.S^ 


.JL_    •-. 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


49 


the  Senate  is  not  made  broader?   And  how  can  such  a  represen- 
tation be  established? 

I  think  it  could  be  done,  and  without  breaking  the  old  frame- 
work of  the  Senate.    Its  basis  should  remain  unchanged,  every 
State,  large  and  small,  keeping  its  two  representatives  in  the 
high  Federal  chamber.    But  to  these  Senators  should  be  added 
Associate  Senators  representing  directly  and  specially  the  great 
social  and  economic  forces  of  the  country— chambers  of  com- 
merce,  boards  of   trade,  manufacturers'  associations,   trades 
unions,  granges,  churches,— not  as  ecclesiastical  but  as  great 
social  organisations,— universities,  bar  associations,  etc.    Every 
great  national  interest  would  have  its  legitimate  spokesman  in 
the  high  assembly,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  special  conditions 
with  which  they  are  connected  would  bring  these  latter  to  light 
before  the  Senate  and  the  country.    The  coordination  of  strug- 
gling economic  forces,  so  far  as  it  depends  on  legislation,  would 
be  promoted  in  a  spirit  of  fairness.     The  trusts  themselves 
could  plead  their  cause,  they  would  only  be  challenged  to  come 
out  in  the  open  instead  of  working  out  their  ends  underhand  as 
now.    Organized  labor  too  should  have  the  opportunity  and 
obligation  of  stating  and  of  proving  its  case. 

The  spirit  of  this  passage  does  not  differ  from  scores 
of  passages  in  syndicalist  writing— as,  for  example, 
this,  which  just  appears  in  the  English  organ : 

Parliament  is  merely  the  organ  of  the  existing  Capitalist 
Class,  and  with  the  inevitable  decay  and  passing  away  of  that 
class  as  a  class,  Parliament  itself  must  also  wither  and  decay 
with  it.  .  .  .  This,  in  fact,  is  already  the  condition  of  Parlia- 
ment. It  is  an  organism  which,  having  fulfilled  its  mission  in 
life,  is  now  naturally  withering  and  passing  away  before  our 
eyes. 

The  reactions  in  this  disappointment  are  far  deeper 
than  that  against  representative  government.  The 
feeling  has  deepened  that,  until  the  economic  grip  of 


HI 

A 
m 


*/i 


ii 


m 


J 


V 


,9,  J     •■■'       '' 


fe 


50 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


u: 


capital  is  loosened,  reforms  in  every  variety  will  fail 
to  reach  the  heart  of  the  disorder. 

Again,  two  generations  have  passed  since  Cobden's 
glowing  prophecies  about  freedom  applied  to  trade.    If 
he  could  repeat  his  lon^  journey  today,  it  would  be  to 
look  upon  a  greedy  scramble  for  market  lestrictions 
scarcely  without  exception.    We  know  what  Thomas 
Jefferson   thought   that  popular  educative  agencies, 
such  as  public  libraries,  would  bring  about.    We  have 
these  institutions  far  beyond  his  dream.    In  Massachu- 
setts scarcely  a  hamlet  is  so  small  as  to  be  without  its 
public  library.    Some  commonplace  towns  have  two  or 
three,  and  one  town  upon  Cape  Cod  has  five.    These 
and  the  people's  schools  have  wrought  their  service, 
but  every  deeper  human  and  social  problem  remains 
about  as  obstinate  as  before.    So  little  has  universal 
suffrage  met  the  eariier  hopes,  that  half  the  educated 
people  one  meets  distrust  it,  and  would  hail  its  restric- 
tion with  downright  satisfaction.    We  turn  back  to  the 
first  writers  upon  some  new  phase  of  education,— let 
us  say,  manual  training  or  the  kindergarten.     The 
first  messages  were  like  a  new  and  conquering  rehgion. 
They  had  the  promise  of  some  stately  reconstruction 
which  a  single  generation  might  bring  about.      In 
Cambridge,  I  have  just  listened  to  two  very  high 
authorities  on  these  special  forms  of  training.    They 
know  the  changes  these  have  brought  about,  and  they 
do  not  undervalue  them,  but  their  estimates  are  very 
cool  and  balanced.    Another  lecturer  was  on  fire  with 
the  new  anarchistic  emphasis  in  child   rearing  of 
Madam  Montessori.    The  listener  guessed  that  after 
a  decade  or  two,  he  also  would  speak  calmly  and 


A  HISTORY  OF   DISAPPOIVTMEXT  51 

more  critically  about  this  latest  educational  innova- 
tion. 

And  thus  it  is  with  the  whole  galaxy  of  reforms. 
I  listened  to  the  first  heralds  in  Massachusetts  of  the 
Australian  Ballot.  They  seemed  at  the  time  to  offer 
a  fundamental  cure  for  our  political  iUs.  The  reform 
has  corrected  some  evils.  It  has  brought  some  better- 
ing.   More  than  this  cannot  be  said. 

If  wo  pass  directly  to  the  "Sodal  Question,"  the 
story  does  not  change.  For  more  than  a  century, 
we  have  had  in  the  United  States  above  two  hundred 
costly  colonizing  experiments  in  which  some  thou- 
sands of  men  and  women  staked  their  all  to  prove  the 
new  and  better  ways  in  genuine  brotherhood.  Unless 
held  by  religious  faiths,  these  brave  ventures  have 
had  an  average  life  of  less  than  three  years.  With 
perhaps  two  exceptions,  that  prove  little,  even  the 
religious  ones  have  almost  vanished. 

Long  since  the  socialists  learned  to  deride  and  dis- 
claim them,  but  not  until  two  generations  had  made 
it  obvious  that  success  did  not  lie  that  way.  When 
experience  had  well  proved  their  failure,  we  were 
told;  "Of  course  scattered  colonies  in  a  continent  of 
capitalism  can  not  endure.  We  must  work  through 
the  social  whole.  We  must  first  capture  and  reform 
the  continent."  This  history  of  frustrated  hopes  has 
the  more  significance  because  these  "Apart  Colonies" 
have  had  every  variety  of  form  in  the  whole  gamut  of 
social  scheming;  Anarchist,  Socialist,  Communist  and 
now  Single  Tax.  Their  constitutions,  programs,  and 
practical  polides  show  much  diversity,  and  yet  the 
shades  of  defeat  are  over  them  all,  as  colonies. 


ili 


w. 


I  ■ 

•'  ^  'liJ 


i 


52 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


I   i 


Not  one  of  these  could  hold  its  own  against  the 
hated  competitive  system.  Not  one  of  them  could 
retain  the  most  enterprising  and  virile  of  its  youth. 
Not  one  of  them  could  match  in  the  slightest  the 
stimulating  opportunities  for  larger  and  a  richer  life 
which  a  capitalistic  society,  in  spite  of  its  sins,  still 
offers. 

In  another  series  of  reforms,  the  disappointment 
has  been  less  final,  but  very  real.    For  half  a  century 
heroic  groups   have  gathered  about  "arbitration," 
I' conciliation,"  "profit  sharing,"  "sUding  scales,"  and 
"bonus  systems,"  and  these  have  paid  their  way, 
some  of  them  richly.    Each  has  left  its  increment  of 
good  which  a  wiser  future  will  put  to  use  and  learn 
to  Jitegrate  with  other  agendes.     But  these  tiny 
deposits  to  our  assets  bear  but  a  ghostly  likeness  to 
those  first  high-hearted  hopes. »    The  older  literature 
of  arbitration  and  profit-sharing  is  fired  with  confident 
anticipation  that  a  "solution"  has  been  found;  an  open 
way  along  which  capital  and  labor,  arm  in  arm,  may 
pass  to  early  and  permanent  peace.   After  a  generation 
of  "voluntary  arbitration"  had  shown  with  chilling 
proof  that  some  of  the  deepest  difr.culties  in  the  ^  -age 
relation  were  beyond  the  reach  of  this  contrivanc^c, 
then  New  Zealand  appeared  with  her  famous  t)ill 
addmg  "compulsion."    By  good  luck,  it  came  in  days 
of  nsmg  prosperity  when  labor  had  its  fairest  chances. 
It  was  then  that  one  of  the  most  feariess  and  gallant 
of  our  citizens,  Henry  D.  Lloyd,  brought  back  his 
story  of  "A  Country  Without  Strikes."    It  was  an 

'  In  a  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor  for  January.  IQ12  is 
an  admirable  summary  of  the  rt-suhs  of  arbitration.  ' 


mmm 


"^.•!!m&.^w 


■.JKa*-fts»^ 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT  53 

epic  of  hope,  reflecting  upon  every  page  his  own 
generous  spirit.  But  labor  there  today  shows  a  surly 
disposition.  In  some  of  the  severer  conflicts,  the  act 
IS  so  feared  that  settlement  is  sought  outside  the  act 
Yet  Mr.  Reeves,  its  author,  told  a  Boston  audience 
that  the  act  was  conceived  to  meet  this  very  class  of 
strikes.' 

After  watching  the  workings  of  the  act  for  several 
years,  trade  unions  in  England  and  the  United  States 
bluntly  and  stubbornly  refuse  their  approval,  while 
Socialists  of  prominence  like  Charles  Edward  Russell 
have  only  boisterous  ridicule  for  the  act. 

Let  it  be  said  again  that  these  reforms  have  "paid 
their  way."    Utter  failure  is  not  to  be  charged  against 
them.    As  m  Emerson's  poem,  these  reforms,  like  the 
Der -vsh,  have  not  brought  diadems;  their  offering 
was  only  homely  and  useful  fruits.    It  is  our  habit  to 
exclaim,  "But  if  men  do  not  expect  diadems,  they 
will  not  give  themselves  greatly  and  pluckily  to  their 
tasks.^  ^  For  herbs  and  apples,  they  will  not  suffer  as 
Mazzim  suffered.      Hauntingly  before  him  he  must 
see   the  shimng   towers   beneath   which  dwells  his 
'■cleansed  and  perfected  Republic."    One  wonders  if 
he  would  have  starved  and  risked  his  life  an  hundred 
times  for  the  actual  Italy  of  1912,  with  its  war  against 
i  ripoh.    Would  those  who  bore  all  the  weary  buffeting 
m  early  trade  union  organizaUon  have  done  it  for  the 
exisUng  American  Federation  of  Labor?    One  chief 
source  of  I.  W.  W.  rebelling  is  the  embittered  sense 

•  RcccnUy  a  New  Zealandcr,  W.  I).  Stewart,  and  an  American 
econonust,  Processor  Lc  RossiRnol,  hav c  ,iven  us  the  sobered  eXat^ 
oi  Uiis  act  m  thcr  volume,  i/ate  ^iociaiism  in  New  Zealand. 


5N 


H^ 


nm 


^^m^^mi^Wff: 


•srw 


54 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


r: 


■'it 


^ 


of  miscarriage  and  shattered  hopes  in  that  large  ma- 
jority to  which  the  trade  union  has  brought  so 
little. 

In  the  same  spirit  of  distrust,  the  trade  union  itself 
rebels  against  the  proffered  bencfacUons  of  capital. 

The  recent  action  of  some  forty  thousand  brewery 
workers  has  an  unmistakable  meamng.    There  was  no 
stampeding  of  minoriries;  no  thought  of  violence,  or 
even  haste.  With  cool  deliberation  and  by  overwhelm- 
ing majorities,  this  powerful  labor  body  refused  to  ac- 
cept one  of  the  most  Uberal  Compensarion  Funds  ever 
offered  to  labor.    After  its  provisions  had  been  pub- 
lished in  their  own  official  organ, »  a  month  was  given 
to  discussion  with  communications  pro  and  con,  like 
the  long  discussion  of  sabotage  and  the  referendum 
vote  in  the  New  York  Call.     Another  month  was 
given  to  the  vote.    Nearly  twenty-three  thousand  men 
voted  against  the  Compensation  and  Old  Age  Pension 
offer,  although  each  beneficiary  was  still  free  to  choose 
the  common  law  or  statutory  remedy.    Every  old  of- 
fense of  "contributory  negligence,"  "fellow  .orvant 
defense,"  and  "assumption  of  risk,"  had  been  dis- 
carded.   The  benefits  were  to  begin  ten  years  earlier 
than  under  the  German  State  Insurance,— a  conces- 
sion of  the  utmost  importance. 
^   These  labor  men  had  learned,  too,  that  not  one 
injury  in  five  secured  compensarion  under  present 
condirions.    They  knew  well  the  long  and  uncertain 
delays,  even  when  they  won  the  case,  as  they  knew 
the  bleeding  fees  of  the  private  lawyers.    Not  a  fea- 
ture of  all  this  but  had  been  amply  discussed.    There 
*  See  Brauerei-Arbeiter  Zeitung,  Feb.  3,  iqij. 


^■^H^ 


'  *T\,«,^:a*«.i6v\#??«5r:;^aw 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


55 


was  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  employers  would 
promptly  pay  the  benefits. 
Of  what  were  the  benefits  to  consist? 

Every  brcwery-worki-r  injured  in  connection  with  his  work 
would  receive  a  specified,  liberal,  compensation  ot  sixty-five 
per  cent  of  the  wages  he  would  otherwise  have  earned  dur- 
ing the  period  of  his  disability,  or  that  in  the  event  of  his 
killing  in  connection  with  his  work  his  dependents,  if  any,  would 
receive,  in  lump  sum  or  in  pro  rata  payments  as  the  Board  of 
Directors  and  Award  might  deem  best  in  each  case,  the  equiva- 
lent of  sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  victim's  wages  for  three  hun- 
dred weeks,  or  practically  six  years— to  the  amount  of  not  more 
than  $3,400,* 

One  hundred  and  eighty-one  um'ons  voted  against 
the  plan.    There  is  nothing  inscrutable  about  this, 
even  to  the  employers  who  say:  "They  think  we 
are  Greeks  bearing  gifts."    That  is  the  explanation. 
This  strong  and  well-paid  labor  organization  has  be- 
come so  far  socialist,  so  far  "class  conscious,"  that  it 
dreads  every  measure  which  identifies  its  interests 
those  of  the  master  class.    Tb's  labor  organization 
knows  that  it  is  very  far  in  the  future  before  the 
Government  in  this  country  will  give  them  anything 
comparable  to  what  the  employers  offered.    Yet  they 
refuse,  preferring  freedom  to  fight  for  their  cause  un- 
impeded, when  and  how  they  choose.    This  is  the 
syndicalist  spirit,  and  with  the  growth  of  Socialism, 
it  becomes  daily  more  and  more  the  spirit  of  the  trade 
union.    It  is  this  spirit  that  refuses  the  New  Zealand 
Arbitration  Act,  and  the  "incorporation"  of  their 

'  The  details  of  this  may  aU  be  found  in  The  American  Unden»riter, 
April,  1912.  There  was  obviously  the  fear  of  a  "  joker  "  which  in 
sccie  way  v.-ai  beuevcd  to  trippie  their  freedom  of  action. 


m 


I 


Hi 
n 

m 


.1 


't 


■i 


^wwmEmMWWSSXfi 


J, 


56 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


unions.  It  is  this  spirit  that  turns  them  like  one  man 
against  "court  injunctions"  and  deepens  their  sus- 
picion against  the  courts  themselves. 

In  trying  to  account  for  a  world  impulse  like  So- 
cialism and  even  more  for  one  like  Syndicalism  with 
its  theoretic  fascinations  and  the  bravado  of  its  prac- 
tice, we  may  save  ourselves  much  trouble  if  these 
balked  hopes  in  the  history  of  reform  are  kept  in  mind. 
In  the  half  dozen  countries  where  Syndicalism  has 
made  itself  really  felt— where,  as  "proletariat"  or 
the  "fourth  estate,"  it  has  made  men  stop  to  listen 
and  reflect,  we  shall  find  the  same  story  of  disap- 
pointed expectations.     Politicians  of  every  ilk  and 
shade  had  promised  results  that  did  not  come.    In- 
coming governments  held  out  hopes  that  were  not 
realized.      Wherever    these    disappointmen  Ls    reach 
a  certain  portion  of  the  wage  earners,  Syndicalism 
gets  its  first  expression.    It  began  in  France,  where 
labor  unions  were  so  organized  as  to  secure  political 
influence,  the  results  of  which  could  be  tested :— where 
very  few  years  were  enough  to  show  what  politics 
could  do  for  them  and  what  it  could  not  do.    It  began 
whjn  the  older  unions  (craft  organizations)  had  come 
to  see  how  little  they  had  done  or  were  likely  to  do 
for  their  own  uplifting.      Many  a  union  had  won 
advantages  for  itself,  but  these  were  always  checked 
by  the  employer's  use  of  new  machinery  plus  easy 
access  to  tenfold  larger  numbers  outside  the  unions, 
always  there,  to  keep  wages  low.    The  part  played 
by  several  of  these  French  unions  led,  moreover,  to 
a  momentous  discovery  that  economic  forces,  trans- 
portutiou  and  electricity  were  so  safely  in  the  hands 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


57 


of  the  workers  that  they  might  use  them  to  gain  their 
objects  far  more  directly  than  through  the  tedious 
ways  of  politics.^ 

The  very  right  to  organize  had  been  withheld  as 
late  as  1884.  When  permission  came,  unions  burst 
into  such  efflorescence  that  in  ten  years,  more  than 
two  thousand  active  organizations  were  a  part  of  the 
industrial  and  political  life  of  the  nation.  The  very 
attempt  to  crib  them  had  turned  them  over  to  so- 
cialist influence.  This  meant  political  action.  They 
captured  towns  by  the  score.  Besides  mayors  and 
local  ofl&cials,  they  sent  their  own  men  to  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  and  were  the  first  in  Europe  to  count 
Socialists  among  the  Ministers  of  State, 

Ten  years  ago,  I  visited  several  of  these  communes 
under  socialist  administration,  hearing  from  Socialists 
for  the  first  time  the  pique  and  irritation  because  their 
officials  were  doing  so  little  for  the  cause.  I  have  seen 
no  socialist  city  with  even  six  months'  experience 
in  the  United  States,  where  this  same  precocious  com- 
plaint could  not  be  heard.  It  is  shallow  and  unfair 
criticism,  but  it  shows  us  the  sources  of  Syndicalism. 

Two  or  three  years  later  it  was  written:  "We 
Socialists  in  ninety  Communes  have  benches  full  of 
Deputies  and  two  Members  of  the  Government,  but 
what  have  they  done  for  Socialism?  They  are  busy, 
most  of  them,  explaining  why  they  can  do  nothing. 
One  critic  said,  'The  only  talent  they  had  developed 
was  "le  talent  de  s'execuser'';  it  is  all  talk,  talk.'" 
Thus  out  of  the  sorrow  or  the  rage  of  disappointment 

*  The  word  syndicalism  is  the  counterpart  of  our  own  tenn  trade 
UDiunism. 


'(: 


S8 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


I   [ 


li      t 


Syndicalism  was  born.  It  was  only  a  more  concrete 
and  acute  form  of  that  chagrin  at  the  failure  of  par- 
liaments and  legislatures  which  the  people  of  many 
countries  have  come  to  feel,  and  none  more  rebel- 
liously  than  we  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  thus  not  alone  the  revelation  that  politics  and 
trade  unions  work  so  feebly  and  so  tardily,  Socialism 
also  brought  its  own  discouragements,  to  those  who 
are  now  Syndicalists.  Socialism  is  long  enough  in 
the  field  to  have  furnished  its  own  "history  of  dis- 
appointment." 

Socialism  has  democratized  hope,  and  it  is  nobly  to 
its  credit  that  it  has  done  this;  but  it  will  also  be  one 
of  its  most  enduring  and  exacting  disciplines.  If  it 
incites  lively  anticipations,  they  must  be  satisfied. 
The  socialist  impeachment  has  smeared  the  existing 
order  as  with  pitch,  and  at  the  same  Ume  fixed  all 
eyes  on  its  own  radiant  picture  of  the  world  that  is 
to  be  when  "land  and  the  tools  are  restored  to  those 
who  labor." 

In  nothing  is  Socialism  more  useful  than  that  it  has 
carried  new  ardors  of  expectation  and  faith  to  the 
huddled  masses  lower  in  the  scale.    It  has  done  this 
at  the  very  time  when  these  masses  refuse  longer  to 
be  put  off  with  other  worldly  substitutes.    That  we 
have  come  so  near  accepting  poverty,  unemployment, 
prostitution  and  sweated  wages  as  practical  fatalities 
which  must  always  abide  with  us,  has  as  little  moral 
excuse  as  to  take  small  pox  or  dirty  milk  as  fatalities. 
Socialism,  as  much  as  any  other  single  influence,  has 
forced  on  the  coming  war  against  these  immemorial 
dishonors.    These  with  economic  changes  have  made 


t 


-i*%>.'rmr»-.SVJ!liBfr«?.  TJBT" 


A  HISTORY  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


59 


this  socialist  criticism  and  arousing  possible.  The  city 
and  industrial  center  have  gathered  the  workers  where 
they  can  be  reached  by  the  new  method.  These 
centers  have  made  organization  possible.  A  thousand 
socialist  papers  and  an  enormous  pamphlet  literature 
are  in  active  circulation. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  this  literature,  it 
stimulates  belief  in  possible  social  changes  that  shall 
enlarge  opportunity  and  distribute  economic  values 
with  more  equal  hand.    But  Socialism  will  have  to  pay 
the  same  penalty  that  those  have  always  paid  who 
promise  too  much.     The  deepest  causes  of  Syndi- 
calism are  economic,  but  its  more  obvious  and  proxi- 
mate origin  lies  in  these  frustrated  hopes.     It  is  the 
child  of  disillusionment.     Those  who  began  it  had 
been  over-promised  or  had  come  to  expect  of  politics, 
of  the  trade  union,  and  of  the  Socialism  then  in  vogue,' 
far  more  than  each  or  all  of  them  could  deliver. 
^  Out  of^  the  chagrin,  hopes  that  no  defeat  can  ex- 
tinguish in  the  heart  of  youth  took  another  flight- 
The  goal  toward  which  it  turns  is  much  the  same,  but 
the  route  and  the  means  through  which  the  journey 
must  be  made  differ  from  those  of  politics,  of  trade 
unions  and  of  Socialism,  as  these  have  hitherto  been 
known.     Yet  in  studying  Syndicalism,  we  are  still 
dealing  with  labor  organization,  though  it  has  changed 
its  emphasis  and  form.    We  are  still  occupied  with 
politics,  though  its  whole  basis  of  representation  is 
transformed.    Neither  are  we  quite  cut  loose  from 
Socialism. 

What  most  concerns  us  in  this  study  and  what  is 
at  the  same  time  most  beset  with  perplexity  is  suffi- 


^1 


i.Mi£dl 


-i'sl 


Bv<rr>4s<at!ir  iUiie9«^0m«Bi9^ 


6o 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


/; 


ciently  to  differentiate  Syndicalism  and  preserve  the 
roots  that  still  inhere  in  the  mother  trunk  from  which 
It  spnngs. 

No  intelHgent  step  in  this  study  seems  to  me  jx.s- 
sible  unless  the  larger  movement  is  first  considered 
A  powerful  contingent  of  our  trade  unions  is   now 
desperately  defending  itself  before  the  public.   Never 
were  so  many  well-to-do  folk  more  relentless  in  their 
animosity  toward  trade  unions  than  at  the  present 
moment.    Never  was  labor  '  so  outspoken  in  its  bitter- 
ness against  the  imperfections  of  the  wage  system 
There  is  nowhere  a  sign  that  this  hostility  is  lessen- 
ing.   The  organized  and  articulate  part  of  labor  never 
showed  more  moody  distrust  of  all  those  agencies 
meant  for  peace  between  capital  and  labor. 

More  and  more  our  most  momentous  strikes  are 
at  bottom  for  "  recognition."  The  points  of  conflict  are 
thrown  out  nearer  the  capitalistic  citadel  of  manage- 
ment The  present  working  of  the  wage  system  is 
challenged.  Certain  portions  of  this  system  as  ar- 
bitrarily managed  are  obviously  breaking  up  before 
our  eyes. 

Syndicalism  is  the  outer,  more  daring  and  reckless 
labor  section  in  this  attack. 

'To  save  tedious  qualifjcations  the  word  "labor"  will  be  freelv 
used  m  this  volume  fo.  the  "wage  earner."  ^ 


i     1 


1 


VI 

FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 

No  one  has  given  us  a  deeper  or  truer  perspective 
through  which  we  may  see  labor's  long  struggle  to 
organize  than  Beatrice  and  Sidney  Webb.    With  ex- 
haustive thoroughness,  they  show  in  the  third  chapter 
of  their  Uistory  of  Trade  Unionism  a  brief,  throbbing 
period  like  that  of  our  Knights  of  Labor.    It  is  a  pas- 
sionate moment  that  fuses  labor,  so  precisely  in  the 
spirit  of  our  I.  W.  W.,  that  we  seem  to  be  reading 
sentence  by  sentence  the  latest  syndicalist  utterance. 
There  was  breathless    expectation    that    capitalism 
was  doomed.    It  is  an  even  eighty  years  since  Owen 
and  his  followers  proposed— almost  to  the  last  detail- 
all  that  our  I.  W.  W.  now  urge,— "eliminate  politics, 
band  labor  together  at  the  bottom  with  light  dues  or 
no  dues  at  all,  with  power  decentralized,  the  general 
strike,  and  the  dream  of  the  cooperative  common- 
wealth."   The  "  means  of  production  "  were,  of  course, 
to  be  "taken  over"  but  "were  to  become  the  prop- 
erty not  of  the  whole  community,  but  of  the  particular 
set  of  workers  who  used  them.    The  trade  unions  were 
to  be  transformed  into  'national  companies'  to  carry 
on  all  the  manufactures.    The  agricultural  union  was 
to  take  possession  of  the  land,  the  miners'  union  of 
the  mines,  the  textile  unions  of  the  factories.    Each 
trade  was  to  be  carried  on  by  its  particular  trade 
union,  centralized  into  one  'grand  lodge.'" 

6i 


I 


Hi 


■.■di'-A...  '-:-.,Tt 


62 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


h      1 


i 


Syndicalism  at  its  best  has  got  far  beyond  this  naive 
proposal  that  miners  arc  alone  to  own  and  disjK)sc 
of  the  product;  that  railway  employees,  textile  workers 
and  shoemakers  are  each  to  have  exclrsive  possession 
of  the  industry  in  which  they  happen  just  then  to  be 
working.    Little  reflection  is  needed  to  .;how  that  this 
would  leave  us  with  the  same  old  difficulties  of  priv- 
ileged and  parasitic  groups.     While  one  finds  plenty  of 
youthful  Syndicalists  who  have  not  got  beyond  thisart- 
Icss  conception,  t-he  more  mature  thought  is  of  a  "fed- 
crated  administration-  that  shall  distribute  unearned 
increment  and  advantage  to  the  social  whole.    Here  in 
some  form  is  the  "Grand  Lodge"  of  Owen's  days. 

In  contagious  enthusiasm  and  rapidity  of  growth 
this  forerunner  far  outmatches  anything  yet  accom- 
plished by  modern  Syndicalism.  More  than  four 
hundred  thousand  workers  were  grouped  into  fellow- 
ship fired  with  expectation  of  some  great  oncoming 
event.  So  quick  was  the  exhaustion,  that  the  story  is 
one  of  the  most  pathetic  in  labor  annals. 

Of  the  real  power  of  capitalistic  industry,  there 
seems  to  have  been,  even  among  the  leaders,  no 
slightest  intimation,  and  quite  as  little  sense  of  the 
law  and  its  influence  over  property  rights.  This 
over-heated  movement  left  its  own  priceless  legacy 
of  cooperative  impulse,  though  with  only  faintest 
resemblance  to  the  expected  reformation. 

Adequately  to  fill  out  these  origins,  Chartism  also 
would  claim  notice.  This  is  usually  described  as  a 
political  uprising  and,  therefore  anti-Syndicalist. 
But  It  had  also  its  outcry  against  politics.  There 
was  direct  onslaught  against  actual  politicians;  the 


FORRRl^NNERS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


63 


same  emphasis  011  the  economic  aspects— the  same 
appeal  to  the  entire  labor  mass.  Disraeli's  Sybil,  writ- 
ten in  this  pc  riod,  has  a  passage,'  to  which  I  have  seen 
several  referciucs  in  syndicalist  sheets.  It  has  the 
ring  of  t  he  I.  W.  VV.  orator  in  every  line.  "  Hope  had 
deserted  the  laboring  classes:  they  had  no  confidence 
m  any  future  of  the  existing  system.  Their  organiza- 
tion, independent  oj  the  political  system  of  the  Chartists 
was  complete.  Every  trade  had  its  union,  and  every 
union  its  lodge  in  every  town  and  its  central  commit- 
tee in  every  district. 

"  Every  engine  was  stopped,  the  plug  was  driven  out 
of  every  boiler,  every  fire  was  extinguished,  every 
man  was  turned  out.  Thi-  decree  went  forth  that 
labor  was  to  cease  until  the  charter  was  the  law  of 
the  land;  the  mine  and  the  mill,  the  foundry  and  the 
loomshop,  were,  until  that  consummation,  to  be  idle; 
nor  was  the  mighty  pause  to  be  confined  to  these  great 
enterprises.  Every  trade  of  ev^  y  kind  and  description 
was  to  be  stopped -tailor  and  cobbler,  brushmaker  and 
sweep,  tinker  and  carter,  mason  and  builder,  all,  all." 

The  next  link  is  the  "International"  of  the  early 
sixties.  The  "General  Rules"  of  this  body  throw  the 
entire  responsibility  for  their  emancipation  upon  the 
"working  classes."  It  is  to  be  an  economic  emancipa- 
tion.   "  Solidarity  of  labor  "  is  the  shibboleth. 

The  founder  of  French  Syndicalism  expressly  ac- 
knowledges the  parenthood  of  the  International,^  as 

_    'Quoted  in  Harle>--  Syndicalism      The  words  which  I  put  in 
Italics  show  the  familiar  economic  rr     uon  against  sectional  attempts 
to  m^ke  too  much  of  p.-!!i!icp!  hoc-e= 
» PeUoutier  at  the  Fourth  Congress  of  lie  Bourses  du  Travail. 


f 


(If 


Ml 


l4  mi 


n  ■■£'' 


'^4^ 

V 


it 


It 


64 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


!'i! 


also  docs  Einil  Pougct.'  But  for  more  direct  light 
upon  the  I.  W.  W.  our  own  recent  labor  history  is 
still  more  useful. 

In  the  midst  of  a  strike,  I  heard  a  studious  and 
conscientious  journalist  ask  a  leader  busy  with  the 
strike,  how  one  could  best  "book  up"  on  the  history 
of  the  I.  W.  W.    The  reply  came,  "Study  the  Knights 
of  Labor  first;  most  of  it  is  there."    He  qualified  this 
later,  but  there  is  quite  truth  enough  in  the  hurried 
suggestion  to  merit  attention.    From  the  early  thir- 
ties, labor  unions  had  felt  the  weakness  of  isolation 
and  there  was  consequent  striving  for  such  federation 
as  would  band  these  scattered  bodies  into  state  and 
national  organizations.    This  especially  appears  after 
periods  of  defeat.     In  no  industry  has  defeat  been 
brought  home  to  the  workers  with  more  tragic  fre- 
quency than  in  the  clothing  trade.    From  these  dis- 
couragements and  from  the  brain  of  one  of  the  most 
thoughtful  men  the  labor  movement  has  produced  in 
the  United  States,  M.  S.  Stephens,  the  "Knights  of 
Labor"  sprang.    His  own  union  among  the  garment 
workers  had  had  a  bitter  history,  ending  at  last  in 
failure.    Like  Henry  George,  Stephens  had  traveled 
widely,  spending  several  years  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
With  rare  gifts  for  reflective  observation,  he  turned 
every  experience  to  good  account.    He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  see  the  hopelessness  of  labor's  struggle,  if 
dependence  were  placed  alone  on  the  separate  craft 
umon.    His  observations  on  this  point  sound  like  an 
I.  W.  VV.  orator  attacking  the  groundwork  of  existing 
unions.     He  dreamed  of  a  federation  which  should 

'  Lc  parti  du  travail. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  THE   I.  W.  W. 


6S 


sweep  in  the  millions,  giving  labor  the  "full  united 
strength  of  associat. d  manhood."     In  his  house  in 
Philadelphia,  late  in  1869.  this  large  desire  was  cm- 
bodied  in  the  plan,  solemnly  named  "The  Noble  and 
Holy  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor."    "Noble"  and 
"Holy"  were  soon  dropped,  and  the  Knights  of  Labor 
entered  upon  their  work  as  a  secret  order  with  much 
ceremonial  pomp,  which  brought  its  own  penalties 
in  the  end.    As  dearly  as  Fourier  and  Marx  saw  the 
coming  of  the  great  organization  in  business,  Stephens 
noted  the  rapid  rise  of  these  new  powers  that  followed 
so  swiftly  after  the  Civil  War.    If  capital  was  to  have 
these  enormous  advantages,  labor  must  secure  them 
or  be  crushed.    This  was  his  problem.    Every  member 
received  for  instruction  the  following  appeal: 

Labor  is  noble  and  holy.  To  defend  it  from  degradation-  to 
divest  it  of  tlic  evils  to  body,  mind,  and  estate  which  ignorance 
and  greed  have  imposed;  to  rescue  the  toiler  from  the  grasp  of 
the  sclfish,-is  a  work  worthy  of  the  noblest  and  best  of  our 
race.  .  .  .  We  mean  no  conllict  with  legitimate  enterprise, 
no  antagonism  to  necessary  capital;  but  men,  in  their  haste 
and  greed,  bhndcd  by  self-interests,  overlook  the  interests  of 
others,  and  sometimes  violate  the  rights  of  those  they  deem 
helpless.  VVe  mean  to  uphold  the  dignity  of  labor,  to  affirm 
the  nobility  of  all  who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brows.  Wc  mean  to  create  a  healthy  public  opinion  on  the 
subject  of  labor  (the  only  creator  of  values),  and  the  justice 
of  Its  receiving  a  full,  just  share  of  the  values  or  capital  it  has 
created. 

This  has  not  the  definiteness  of  Syndicalism  as  now 
stated.  In  the  words,  "Wc  mean  no  conflict  with 
legitimate  enterprise,  no  antagonism  to  necessary 
capital"— we  have  a  phrasing  which  every  I.  W.  W. 


^i 


Wi 


fv^sm^m^smst' 


66 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


!l 


follower  would  challenge.    To  him  there  is  no  "neces- 
sary capital"  except  that  which  society  itself  owns 

But  like  the  I.  W.  VV.,  Stephens  looked  toward  the 
complete  extirpation  of  the  wage  system.  To  this 
end,  decades  of  educational  effort  were  to  be  made 
through  the  organs  created  by  this  new  order.  As  in 
the  I.  W.  W.,  hostility  was  shown  to  "intellectuals." 
1  hysicians,'  politicians,  and  lawyers  were  excluded  — 
the  lawyers  because  they  were  so  largely  a  parasitic 
class  like  hquor-dealers,  who  were  also  excluded 

After  1872,  beginning  with  plumbers  and  painters 
a  steady  increase  of  carpenters,  masons,  machinists,' 
steel  makers,  weavers,  fell  into  line.    State  after  state 
joined  with  an  ever  larger  variety  of  craft  unions,  until 
at   Richmond  in  1886,  nearly  nine  thousand  trade 
unions  had  gathered  under  the  banners  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor.     But  with  each  mounting  step,  troubles 
followed.     Every  added  thousand  brought  its  incre- 
ment of  conllict.    A  local  union,  or  even  all  the  unions 
in  a  given  trade,  had  interests  in  common.  The  "local" 
understood  those  interests  and  could  define  and  act 
upon  them  far  more  intelligently  than  any  distant 
official  body. 

It  thrilled  like  a  trumpet  note  to  hear  that  "the 
heart  of  labor  beats  with  a  common  throb,"  that  "its 
interests  are  one  with  the  all-embracing  brotherhood 
ot  toil  ;  but  when  a  plague  of  petty  strikes  broke  out 
in  1880-1  the  responsible  officials  were  frightened. 
Mr.  Powderly  was  then  "General  Master  Workman  " 
He  sent  out  a  pathetic  protest,  precisely  as  the  French 

'  The  doctors  were  later  arlmitted.    The  "Secrecy"  of  the  orrl^r 
accounted  in  part  for  these  exclusions. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 


67 


Syndicalist  Lagardclle  has  recently  cried  out  for  a 
"revision  of  the  facts  and  the  ideas"  of  his  order. 
"After  a  glorious  beginning,"  he  says,  "we  find  our- 
selves faced  with  what  generally  results  from  forced 
marches— complete  exhaustion,"  English  Syndi- 
calism, since  the  pitiable  failure  of  the  dockers'  strike, 
is  eating  the  same  bitter  fruit.  The  over-stimulated 
activity  of  the  strike  will  enfeeble  the  I.  W.  W.  as 
it  did  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  power  of  the  strike 
is  in  its  restraint,  not  in  its  profusion. 

But  the  greater  lesson  is  that  the  Knights  of 
Labor,  like  the  L  W.  W.,  brought  to  the  front 
an  ideal  relationship  of  labor  that  does  not  stand 
the  strain  put  upon  it.  It  is  pleasant  to  say  that 
the  interests  of  Western  lumbermen  are  one  with 
those  of  New  Jersey  Glass  Blowers,  but  a  conflict 
with  employers  in  the  lumber  camp  may  prove  within 
a  week  that,  for  the  fighting  moment,  they  have 
nothing  in  common  with  far-off  glass  blowers  or  with 
labor  in  an  hundred  other  removed  industries.  Soon 
after  1880,  this  actual  conflict  of  interests  between 
craft  unions  and  the  Knights  of  Labor  set  in  with 
increasing  violence.  It  was  found  that  "craft  au- 
tonomy" had  its  own  sturdy  vitality.  In  the  first 
high  enthusiasms,  organizers  were  sent  broadcast  to 
create  new  unions. J  They  were  chartered  and  set  on 
their  way  irrespective  of  any  grievance  with  em- 
ployer, past  or  present.  One  or  two  years  passed  when 
it  slowly  became  clear  to  the  members  that  their 

"  Mr.  WallitiK  writes  in  the  New  /?rt;Vi,  Jan.  18,  "  Revolutionary 
unionists  conclude  that  llie  cure  for  lost  strikes  is  more  strikes;  strikes 
more  fiequent,  more  aggrcssivo,  and  on  a  larger  scale." 


f  :A 


68 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


;  I 


H 


regular  dues  were  paid  solely  (o  assist  unknown  and 
far-ofT  strikers  of  whose  case  they  knew  nothing  ex- 
cept through  reporters  whose  interest  it  was  to  see 
that   dues   were   collected.     Rumors   followed   that 
many  of  these  strikes  were  from  inner  jurisdictional 
feutls  or  from  local  rivalries  between  envious  leaders. 
Was  hard-earned  money  to  be  paid  by  labor  in  Cin- 
cinnati to  doubtful  quarrels  in  some  New  England 
"local"?     Hundreds  of  unions  <■.•';  away,  one  after 
another,  because  the  resonant  phrases  about  "labor's 
uniteil  interests"  came  to  be  questioned   and   then 
defied.    When  errors  of  judgment  are  made  or  violent 
passions  lead,  it  is  a  wild  folly  to  insist  that  "labor's 
cause  is  always  sacred  against  the  employer."    The 
sole  measure  of  labor's  common  interest  is  the  sound- 
ness and  justice  of  its  cause.    There  are  no  "common 
interests  of  labor,  right  or  wrong,"  any  more  than 
there  is  a  decent  patriotism,  "right  or  wrong." 

In  the  height  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  ascendency, 
I  stopjx-d  off  the  train  in  a  New  England  textile  town 
t()  inquire  about  a  strike  then  raging.    It  was  on  the 
slippery  edges  of  defeat.    It  was  from  a  trade  unionist 
that  I  heard  at  once.  "We  have  put  our  foot  in  it. 
We   thought   the  employers   were   making   a   thirty 
per  cent  profit  and  we  acted  on  that,  and  now  we  have 
got  perfectly  good  evidence  that  they  are  not  making 
seven  per  cent,  and  we've  got  to  get  out  of  the  scra()e 
as  best  we  can."    There  have  been  quite  uncounted 
thousands  of  such  strikes.    A  f-w  years  later,  conflicts 
in  the  K.  of  L.  became  so  frequent  that  unions  by 
scores  dropped   from   their  allegiance  and   the  first 
intimations  of  a  new  order,  The  American  Federation 


ii\^}Miwm 


K 


K.  'mi^m^ 


FORERUNNERS  OF  THE   I.   \V.   W. 


69 


of  Labor,  wore  heard.    'Ihis  Ijody  restored  again  the 
more  localized  power  in  thi-  trade  union. 

The  Knights  of  Labor  had  in  its  Constitution  for 
Local  Assemblies  lines  calling  for  "the  grand  union  of 
all  who  toil,  regardless  of  sex,  of  creed,  or  of  color," 
in  the  exact  vein  of  Mr.  Haywood's  latest  speech. 
This  had  an  emotional  value  like  that  of  a  new  re- 
ligion, until  the  stress  of  an  actual  strike  revealed  the 
real  intensities  of  local  self-interest  as  against  that 
sublime  but  shadowy  vision,— "the  brotherhood  of 
labor  as  wide  as  the  world,  as  hnked  as  a  chain,  with 
no  enemy  but  the  master  class." 

This  levi^l,  horizontal  identification  of  labor  inter- 
ests as  against  all  others,  deiljed  into  a  principle  of 
action,  wrecked  the  Knights  of  Labor,  as  it  will  wreck 
any  conceivable  body  which  attempts  its  application 
to  the  bread  and  butter  ta.sks  of  daily  life.    The  wage 
scale  of  labor  in  the  world  varies  from  at  least  six 
dollars  a  day  to  live  cents  a  day.    Groups  of  turbaned 
and  dusky  creatures  from  the  far  East  who  received 
in  India  less  than  ten  cents  daily,  now  work  (timidly 
because  always  in  risk  of  their  lives)  up  and  down  the 
Pacific  Coast.     With  the  swift  mobilities  of  steam 
navigaUon  this  contact  between  a  ten-cent  standard 
and  a  two-or-three-dollar  standard  has  in  it  more 
fatalities  of  enraged  enmity  than  any  which  exist  be- 
tween "capital  and  labor."    I  have  seen  negroes  work- 
ing in  the  lower  South  for  sixty  cents  daily,  and  this 
during  less  than  half  the  days  of  the  year.     What 
"solidarity"  is  there  between  these  and  Butte  miners? 
What  acknowledged  "solidarity''  was  thrre  at   the 
Law.'?nce  strike  between  the  lower  polyglot  workers 


f 

! 
it 


;,**< 


7° 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


and  the  best  paid  English  labor  in  the  mills?  '  I  heard 
no  bitterer  outbursts  there  than  between  members 
of  these  two  groups.  If  this  antagonism  asserts  itself 
when  the  difference  in  wages  is  less  than  fifty  per  cent, 
what  must  it  be  between  those  separated  by  three 
or  four  hundred  per  cent? 

In  iS8o,  the  rents  in  the  K.  of  L.  organization  were 
so  threatening  that  the  propensity  to  strike  was  ac- 
knowledged by  the  ablest  leaders  to  be  so  perilous  as 
to  require  immediate  attention.  Two  years  later 
these  men  ask  that  the  Constitution  be  thoroughly 
overhauled.  Schism  was  rife.  Threats  of  with- 
drawal came  in  from  all  quarters.  Though  the  radical 
element  prevailed  at  this  moment,  it  brought  from 
Grand  Master  Powderly  the  following  warning,  which 
reads  precisely  like  warnings  which  began  to  be  heard 
in  France  two  years  ago.    Powderly  said: 

One  cause  for  the  tidal  wave  of  strikes  that  has  swept  over 
our  Order  comes  from  the  exaggerated  reports  of  the  strength  of 
the  Order,  numerically  and  financially,  given  by  many  of  our 
organizers.  Such  a  course  may  lead  men  into  the  Order,  but 
by  a  path  that  leads  them  out  again;  for,  as  soon  as  they  be- 
come convinced  that  they  were  deceived,  they  lose  confidence  in 
the  Order. 

In  18S4.  the  Knights  of  Labor  had  learned  that  the 
boycott,  unless  carefully  restrained,  was  also  full  of 
peril.  We  hear,  too,  that  "benefit  funds"  must  be 
built  up  to  strengthen  the  Order.    Two  years  later, 

'  This  requires  one  m(xlification.  Individual  men  and  women  in 
receipt  of  high  wanes  quit  wdrk  from  s\  mpathy  in  many  strikes.  It 
is  one  of  the  noblest  features  in  scons  of  great  contests.  To  sup- 
pose, however,  that  this  ran  be  generalized  into  a  universjil  fact  and 
made  the  basis  of  a  (jolicy  of  social  reconstruction  is  an  illusion. 


FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  I.  W.   W.  71 

Strikes  were  so  restricted  in  the  proposals  of  the  chief 
committee  as  to  bring  out  the  retort  from  radical 
members  that  the  Order  was  to  be  deprived  of  its 
one  great  weapon.'  Mr.  Powderiy's  most  desperate 
final  effort  was  to  persuade  the  membership  to  find 
other  means  to  settle  labor  disputes.  That  the  strike 
and  boycott  had  invaluable  uses  was  never  questioned, 
but  these  few  arduous  years  taught  every  sane  head 
upon  whom  responsibilities  fell,  that  no  organization 
could  either  live  or  thrive  upon  measures  so  costly 
and  so  essentially  destructive. 

This  lesson  the  I.  W.  W.  might  learn  from  their 
forerunner,  as  they  might  learn  some  hints  about 
the  possibilities  of  the  "General  Strike"  to  which 
they  turn  as  the  last  great  instrument  of  their  freedom. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  were  less  ambitious.  They 
created  an  organization  which  lent  itself  to  new  uses 
of  the  boycott  and  the  "sympathetic"  strike.  This 
sweeps  together  widely  different  unions  into  a  common 
revolt.  There  was  much  eloquence  expended  upon 
its  possibilities.  The  "sympathetic  strike"  was  but 
a  fme  practical  illustration  of  their  noble  motto:  "An 
injury  to  one  is  the  injury  to  all."    In  three  successive 

'  The  words  of  the  proposed  amendment  were  as  follows: 
That  no  strike  shall  be  entered  uiwn  or  sanctioned  by  any  Local 
Trade,  District,  or  State  Assembly,  when  aid,  financial  or  otherwise' 
may  be  required  from  outside  such  Assembly,  until  the  General 
I  xecutive  Board  shall  have  been  represented  by  one  or  more  ul  its 
members,  or  assistants,  in  an  < iiort  to  settle  the  pending  difficulty  by 
arbitration,  and  then  only  by  order  of  the  General  Kxecuiive  Board. 
Any  strike  entered  upon  without  such  order  bv  the  General  Execu- 
tive Board  shall  receive  no  assistance,  financial  or  otherwise,  from  the 
Order  outside  of  such  Assembly;  nor  shaU  any  appeal  to  the  Order 
for  such  aid  be  permitted. 


-f  m 


r-'-r 


72 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


years,  1886-7-8,  this  was  tried  at  terrible  cost  on  two 
railroads  and  among  the  longshoremen.  It  was  a 
most  sobering  experience  which  later  put  the  rising 
"Federation"  on  its  guard. 

It  is  from  this  time  on  that  confusion  and  disorder 
play  havoc  with  the  Knights  of  Labor,  until  it  gives 
place  to  its  great  rival  now  in  the  field,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.' 

Because  the  Knights  of  Labor  became  a  wreck,  it 
does  not  follow  as  a  fatality  that  the  I.  VV.  W.  will 
likewise  fail.  Labor  has  learned  much  since  then,  and 
what  is  now  "the  great  industry"  has  so  changed 
as  to  require  corresponding  changes  in  labor  policies. 
"As  capital  becomes  international,  as  its  organization 
becomes  more  compact,  we  too,"  says  a  Syndicalist, 
"must  adapt  ourselves  to  the  new  econo  nic  order." 
As  a  general  statement,  this  is  harmless,  but  it  does 
not  help  us.  To  "internationalize  the  common  in- 
terests of  labor  over  against  capital,"  is  to  multiply 
by  ten  every  specific  obstacle  which  wrecked  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  The  same  conflict  of  interests 
which,  to  their  sorrow,  sprang  up  like  dragon's  teeth, 
will  increase  with  every  widening  of  racial  and  na- 
tional areas  where  our  American  Syndicalism  pro- 
poses to  carry  the  conflict. 

'  The  1.  W.  W.  show  much  determination  to  avoid  the  political 
disasters  which  befell  the  Knights  of  Labor. 


vn 

THE  I.  W.  W. 

Like  the  sound  of  a  bell  in  the  night,  the  "  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World"  strike  an  alarm  note  that 
seems  as  new  and  strange  to  us  as  if  some  unknown 
enemy  were  at  the  gate.    Both  the  purpose  and  the 
weapons  used  are  alien  and  uncanny  to  our  thought. 
We  are  just  becoming  half  wonted  to  Socialism,  but 
the  defiant,  riotous  ways  of  this  American  Syndical- 
ism are  past  understanding.   For  its  field  of  action  it 
selects  most  unexpected  points;  hotels  and  restaurants 
with  petrifying  hints  that  concern  the  stomach  of  the 
public;  then  the  camp  of  lumberjacks,  north  and 
south;  small  self-confident  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
West  Virginia  mines,  Pittsburg  industries  pnd  New 
England  textile  cities,  hitherto  proud  of  their  orderly 
records.     More  disconcerting  still  is  its  attack  on 
Socialism,  as  we  have  known  it.    This  is  beset  by  the 
new  comers  with  as  much  acrimony  as  capitalism 
itself.    A  prolific  I.  W.  W.  literature  has  more  acrid 
abuse  of  the  many  prominent  socialist  leaders  than 
anything  appearing  in  capitalistic  sheets. 

Tit  for  tat,  against  the  I.  W.  W.  and  its  prevailing 
tactics,  socialist  authorities  the  world  over  are  writing 
by  far  the  most  scathing  and  contemptuous  criticism. 
This  is  true  even  in  Germany  where  Syndicalism  has 
secured  the  least  hold  upon  the  movement.  A  Marx- 
ian dignitary  as  prominent  as  Karl  Kautsky  has  just 

73 


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74 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


taken  it  in  hand.  The  entire  practice  of  these  new 
agitators,  he  tells  us,  is  "a  mere  child's  disease  of  the 
labor  union."  The  most  withering  censure  which 
Socialists  can  bestow  is  to  call  anything  "bourgeois," 
yet  Kautsky  finds  this  word  aptly  descriptive.  Both 
the  theory  and  practice  of  Syndicalism  "are  the  ex- 
pression of  the  bourgeois  spirit  which  has  not  been 
able  to  adapt  itself  to  modern  industrial  conditions." 
He  connects  the  activities  in  France,  where  Syndical- 
ism was  born,  with  the  undeveloped  conditions  of 
labor  unions.  He  thinks  Austrian  socialists  have 
already  got  the  best  of  the  plague  and  other  European 
countries  will  soon  be  free  of  it. 

That  Europe  will  free  herself  so  easily  from  this 
"child's  disease"  is  open  to  question,  but  we  in  this 
country  shall  not  escape  its  discipline.  The  very 
spirit  with  which  we  fight  it  will,  for  a  long  time,  help 
it.  We  have  already  added  immeasurably  to  its 
strength  by  the  use  of  tactics  as  little  defensible  as 
the  practice  of  the  I.  W.  W.  itself.  For  the  gravity  of 
the  movement  in  this  country,  I  shall  not  offer  general 
or  theoretic  proofs.  The  theory,  or  "philosophy,"  of 
the  movement  will  be  given,  but  main  stress  will  be 
placed  upon  the  practical  experience  of  Syndicalism 
as  it  has  expressed  itself  in  the  last  few  years. 

For  sonte  weeks  in  Europe,  I  watched  one  of  the 
first  general  strikes  consciously  animated  by  the 
syndicalist  spirit.  It  was  very  dumfounding  at  that 
time  to  hear  well-known  socialists  and  trade  union 
veterans  both  classed  as  "parasites"  and  "fakers." 
It  was  a  violent  "sympathetic  strike  quite  in  the 
ordinary  style  but  one  to  which  the  name  "general" 


THE   I.  W.  W.' 


75 


was  added.  This  is  the  great  weapon  of  the  new 
propaganda.  After  interminable  discussion  it  was 
adopted  by  that  powerful  body  in  Paris,  the  "  General 
Confederation  of  Labor."  A  few  years  after  its 
formation  in  1895,  I  again  saw  a  sharp  contest  di- 
rected by  that  body  under  syndicalist  leadership. 
This  led  me  to  gather  the  literature  available  at  that 
time,  of  which  some  account  will  be  given  in  other 
chapters.  In  1903,  I  was  asked  by  the  late  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor,  Carroll  D.  Wright,  to  report  to  him 
confidentially  upon  the  strike  in  Colorado  of  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners. 

In  the  murky  terrors  of  that  miners'  strike,  the 
vehement  and  practical  thing  called  I.  W.  W.  had  its 
birth.  Grimy  and  hot,  it  rose  there  as  from  a  sulphur- 
ous pit.  It  is  insufficient  testimony,  but  one  of  the 
more  daring  leaders  in  that  strike  assured  me  that 
not  one  of  them  ever  heard  of  "Syndicalism"  as  for 
ten  years  it  had  been  known  in  Europe.  He  said, 
"One  or  two  of  us  knew  that  trade  unions  were  called 
Syndicates  in  France,  and  that  sabotage  meant  some 
sort  of  a  row  with  the  boss,  in  which  labor  got  back  at 
him  with  new  tricks.  It  enabled  the  men  to  hold  on 
to  their  jobs  while  the  strike  was  still  carried  on  'at 
the  point  of  production.'"  Here  they  could  quietly 
bring  worse  damage  to  the  employer.  The  same  in- 
formant has  since  assured  me  "The  I.  W.  W.  was 
hammered  out  in  the  fires  of  that  conflict."  So  far 
as  origins  have  value,  the  source  of  the  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners  and  its  stormy  history  must  have 
brief  notice.  The  most  rugged  personaUty  it  has  pro- 
duced is  that  of  William  D.  Haywood,  who  was  amused 


J  4       ' 


■i 


76 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


hi 


that  any  one  should  think  the  mild  disturbance  at 
Lawrence,  Mass..  really  serious.  It  was  at  most 
like  a  scrimmage  among  ladies.  But  Colorado,  he 
said,  ''was  the  real  thing,  that  was  a  man's  fight" 
Amidst  the  rankliii^'s  at  Lawrence,  a  citizen  cried  out, 
"What  have  we  done  that  a  pack  of  ignorant  for- 
eigners should  hold  us  by  the  throat  ?  " 

The  first  fact  in  the  "man's  fight"  from  Cceur 
d'Alene  in  1894,  to  Cripple  Creek  in  1903-4  is  that 
"foreigners"  neither  led  it  nor  were  very  conspicuous 
in  it.  It  was  as  "American"  as  the  Republican  Party. 
This  "Western  Ftiloration"  began  in  Butte,  Montana, 
in  the  spring  of  1893.  ^  section  2  of  its  Constitution 
are  these  lines: 

"The  objects  of  this  organization  shall  be  to  unite 
the  various  persons  working  in  and  around  the  mines, 
nails,  and  smelters  into  one  central  body,  to  practice 
those  virtues  that  adorn  society,  and  remind  man  of 
his  duty  to  his  fellow  man,  the  elevation  of  his  position, 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  of  the  workers." 

In  a  statement  signed  by  the  President,  Charles 
Mover,  and  by  the  Secretary-Treasurer,  William  D. 
Haywood,  we  read: 

"  Previous  to  an  applicant  being  initiated  to  mem- 
bership in  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  or  taking 
the  obligation,  the  following  assurance  is  made: 

"This  body  exacts  no  pledge  or  obligation  which  in 
any  way  conflicts  with  the  duty  you  owe  to  your  God, 
your  country,  or  your  fellow-man." 

These  verbal  pieties  staged  for  the  public  ear,  are 
not  really  worse  than  some  of  the  appeals  to  the 
"dignity  of  the  law,"  to  "true  Americanism,"  to  "the 


THE   I.  W.  W. 


77 


honor  of  the  flag,"  made  by  the  employers  at  a  time 
when  they  were  practicing  the  most  wily  form  of  law- 
lessness.  They  are  even  less  repulsive  than  letters 
from  judges,  governors,  attorney-generals,  published 
in  Senate  Document  Numbers  86,  and  163,  of  the 
Fifty-eighth  Congress  (second  seshion)  showing  with 
what  plump  material  favors  the  loyalty  of  these 
gentlemen  was  secured  by  the  railroads.  Some  arc 
from  the  Supreme  Court  Chambers— as.  for  example, 
this: 

I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  favor.   I  asked  Mr. 

to  speak  to  you,  because  he  knew  heller  than  anyone  else  what 
I  had  done  for  the  railroad  attorneys,  and  stand  uady  to  do 
whenever  I  can.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  prove  my  appreciation  of 
this  favor. 

Yours  very  truly, 


As  this  wretched  business  is  long  past,  I  withhold  all 
names,  but  they  stand  there  in  the  Senate  record  with 
others  to  jog  the  memories  of  those  who  assured  us 
for  many  years  that  railroad  passes  had  no  perverting 
influence  on  the  action  of  those  who  received  them. 

On  the  dingy  background  of  a  lawlessness  that  in- 
cluded employers  and  miners  alike,  these  oflkial 
solemnities  recall  the  piety  of  the  great  pirate  Haw- 
kins, naming  his  flagship  Tlw  Jesus .^ 

These  unpleasant  notes  are  not  recorded  here  to 
excuse  the  succession  of  inhuman  savageries  of  which 
some  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners 
were  plainly  guilty.    On  both  sides  there  wore  years 

'  Sec  ChanninK's  History  of  the  United  Stales,  Vol.  I,  p.  ii6,  for  this 
and  other  gems  of  the  same  character. 


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78 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


\(l 


of  frontier  warfare  with  every  characterist'c  of  war 
except  its  public  and  official  sanction.  It  :  a  story 
that  reads  like  the  vandalisms  connected  with  our 
early  "Whiskey  Rebellion"  as  recorded  in  Mc- 
Master's  second  volume  of  his  History. 

The  men  owning  large  mining  properties  and  trans- 
portation systems  in  those  regions  did  not  propose  to 
have  groups  of  socialistic  trade  unions  endanger  these 
values.  Millions  were  listed  on  the  stock  market  liable 
to  tumble  if  investors  were  frightened  and  credit  im- 
paired. Nothing  is  more  cruel  or  more  lawless  than 
great  properties  if  thoroughly  intimidated.  In  the  midst 
of  this  struggle  a  lawyer,  fighting  for  these  interests, 
said  openly,  "Law  or  no  law,  we  will  not  have  a  lot  of 
thugs  interfere  with  our  business." 

There  is  no  such  study  of  social  guilt  as  that  re- 
vealed very  generally  in  this  country  during  serious 
strikes.    Police  duties  which  belong  strictly  to  pubhc 
authorities  are  turned  over  to  owners  of  private  prop- 
erty.    Thus  instantly  appear  upon  the  scene  de- 
tectives, spies,  and  imported  strike-breakers,  among 
whom  (as  in  this  instance)  are  lawless  and  desperate 
characters.    DeUberately,  we  permit  and  sanction  this 
procedure,  certain  to  create  upon  the  spot  every  con- 
dition out  of  which  insane  hatreds  and  violence  are 
bred.    Both  origin  and  cause  are  thus  to  large  extent 
social  rather  than  individual.    This  burden  of  guilt 
and  responsibility  society  must  bear,  with  every  un- 
happy consequence,  until  these  private  agencies  are 
replaced  by  adequate  and  impartial  authority. 

Here,  then,  is  the  high  temperature  of  lawlessness 
out   of   which   our   American    Syndicalism   directly 


mt\. 


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Z'im!^'!^!^i'-^m-'*s;^''mB^mamw^iimtm^'W'  ww ' 


THK    I.   VV.  W. 


79 


springs.  The  anarchy  was  increased  by  the  fact  that 
these  labor  unions,  united  in  the  Federation  of  Miners, 
were  openly  and  aggressively  socialistic.  Many  times 
I  heard  from  members  their  contempt  for  Mr.  Gom- 
pers  and  his  Federation  of  Labor,  because  he  worked 
with  the  employer  instead  of  against  him.  In  Teller 
County,  I  found  union  cards  on  which  were  printed 
these  words:  "Labor  produces  all  wealth.  Wealth 
belongs  to  the  producer  thereof." 

There  is  an  ominous  significance  in  these  two  short 
sentences.  If  the  word  "labor"  were  largely  inter- 
preted to  include  all  the  energy,  thought,  direction, 
ability,  and  invention  that  go  into  the  work  of  min- 
ing and  its  development,  the  sentence  would  be  inno- 
cent enough.  But  if  "labor"  is  held  to  mean  the 
manual  service  of  the  wage-earning  miner,  and  that 
alone,  its  meaning  may  spell  disaster.  If,  as  miner, 
I  am  made  to  believe  that  I  am  exclusively  the  pro- 
ducer of  wealth,  I  shall  feel  myself  defrauded  if  any 
part  of  it  is  withheld  from  me.  What  I  produce  and 
all  that  I  produce  is  legitimately  my  own. 

As  the  I.  W.  W.  comes  upon  the  scene,  we  are  left 
in  no  doubt  about  their  interpretation  of  these  words. 
Very  active  in  those  mining  troubles  was  one  who  is 
now  National  Secretary  of  the  I.  W.  W.  It  is  fair  to 
let  him  state  his  rase  in  his  own  way.  In  his  pamphlet 
explaining  the  history,  structure,  and  methods  '  he 
sayg,  "There  is  but  one  bargain  the  I.  W.  W.  will  make 
with  the  employing  da?,?,— Complete  surrender  of  all 
control  of  industry  to  the  organized  workers"    These 

•  Published  by  the  I.  W.  W.  Publishing  Bureau,  New  Castle,  Pa. 
P.  O.  Drawer  622. 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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words,  which  I  put  in  italics,  appear  in  large  capital 
letters  in  his  pamphlet.    The  other  labor  riaster  en 
that  occasion  is  more  explicit. 
In  his  Industrial  Socialism,  Mr.  Haywood  writes: 

Long  before  the  coming  of  the  modern  Socialist  Movement 
it  was  understood  by  the  economists  that  all  wealth  is  produced 
by  labor.  How  then,  it  was  questioned,  can  profits  be  accounted 
for?  If  labor  produces  all  wealth  why  do  not  the  laborers  re- 
ceive their  full  product?  The  answer  to  this  question  was  not 
known  until  it  came  from  Karl  larx.  Wages,  said  Marx,  are 
not  the  full  product  of  labor.  Nor  are  wages  any  definite  part 
of  the  product.  Wages  are  simply  the  seLuig  price  of  the  worker 
in  the  market.  This  selling  price,  on  the  average,  is  just  enough 
to  keep  the  worker  in  good  condition  to  do  his  work  and  produce 
some  one  to  take  his  place.  For  instance,  if  the  worker  toils  ten 
hours  and  produces  $10.00  worth  of  wealth,  he  does  not  receive 
$10.00,  nor  $5.00.  If  $2.00  will  support  him  he  receives  $2.00, 
and  no  more.  These  $2.00  are  his  wages  and  the  remaining 
$8.00  are  the  profits  of  the  capitalist.  If  the  hours  of  the  worker 
be  increased,  and  better  machines  introduced,  the  workers' 
product  is  increased,  let  us  say,  to  $15.00.  Do  the  workers' 
wages  go  up?  No.  They  are  now  but  $1.50.  The  profits,  or 
surplus-value,  are  now  $13.50. 

The  theory  of  surplus  value  is  the  beginning  of  all  Socialist 
knowledge.  It  shows  the  capitalist  in  his  true  light,  that  of  an 
idler  and  parasite.  It  proves  to  the  workers  that  capitalists 
should  no  longer  be  permitted  to  take  any  of  their  product. 

The  current  publications  of  this  body  are  full  of 
statements  of  this  same  nature,  more  immature  and 
drastic  still.  Not  alone  the  capitalist  proper,  as  re- 
ceiver of  interest,  is  stigmatized  as  parasite,  but  em- 
ployer and  "boss"  are  lumped  with  the  robber  class. 
A  mine  owner  in  Cripple  Creek,  pointing  to  the  words 
on  the  union  card,  said  to  me:  "You  see  now  why  they 
are  stealing  hundreds  of  thousands  from  us  every 


THE  I.  W.  W. 


8i 


year.  They  read  'that  Labor  produces  all  wealth,' 
and  they  take  that  rogue's  gospel  straight  into  the 
gold  mine,  stowing  away  in  their  clothing  the  choicest 
bits  of  ore,  and  there  is  an  organized  market  to  buy 
it.  We  can't  examine  them  as  they  come  out,  as  they 
do  in  South  Africa,  or  they  would  leave  us  in  a  bunch 
the  first  night." 

I  suggested  that  the  Kaffir  thieves  in  South  Africa 
inclined  to  pilfering,  without  any  socialistic  instruc- 
tion and  that  it  was  charged  as  confidently  where  no 
one  had  ever  heard  these  phrases. 

He  held  to  his  point,  that  the  propensity  was  di- 
rectly stimulated  and  justified  by  this  teaching,  as 
indeed  the  plain  logic  of  it  implies.  "If  they  believe 
what  their  leaders  tell  them,"  he  continued,  "they 
are  fools  not  to  steal  it.  I  would  take  it  in  their  place, 
if  I  thought  it  belonged  to  me." 

This  form  of  "direct  action"  in  no  way  characterizes 
the  more  instructed  Socialism  of  our  time,  but  it 
depicts  faithfully  the  opinion  of  this  syndicalist  body 
as  it  begins  to  play  its  part  in  this  country.  Even 
the  former  editor  of  the  Brauer-Zeitung,  W.  E.  Traut- 
mann,  now  so  conspicuous  in  the  fray,  writes  down 
calmly: 

LABOR  THE  SOLE  PRODUCER 

To  all  the  making  and  development  of  these  social  institu- 
tions the  workers,  a)id  they  alone,^  contribute  their  intellect 
and  their  manual  labor.  They  have  created  the  instruments 
to  produce  wealth  with,  and  improved  them  as  time  rolled  by. 

These  institutions  are  organized  in  their  operative  functions 
to  yield  profits  for  a  few  who  never  did,  nor  do,  contribute  to 


fr: 


M 


H 


■m 


HI 


'  The  italics  are  mine. 


i£ 


JBr 


Vi?' 


82 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


n 


their  making  and  maintenance,  except  in  a  manner  to  protect 
them  in  the  possession  of  things  that  they  did  not  make. 

In  their  statement  of  fundamental  principles  are 
the  opening  words:  "The  working  class  and  the  em- 
ploying class  have  nothing  in  common."    Here  is  not 
even  an  attempt  to  distinguish  "between  employer 
and  capitalist."    Even  if  the  distinction  is  implied, 
the  rank  and  file  will  not  make  it.    It  is  the  proclaimed 
excellence  of  the  movement  that  its  following  is  from 
the  ranks  of  those  far  down  in  the  social  scale;  those 
excluded  from  trade  unions.    Even  "the  man  in  the 
gutter,"  is  to  be  taken  in  as  INIr.  Haywood  insists. 
There  is  much  generous-mindedness  in   this  large 
brotherhood,  but  all  the  more  have  those  who  lead  it 
responsibilities  of  instruction  and  explanation.    Hay- 
wood's ideal  organization  includes  also  the  working 
children  and  the  blacks.'     How  would  this  general 
mass— all  the  polyglot  intermixture  of  our  textile, 
mining  and  iron  industries-  -interpret  passages  like 
those  just  quoted  by  their  chief  instructors?   To  teach 
such  as  these  anything  so  exhaustively  silly  as  that 
manual  labor— labor  like  their  own— "  produces  all 
wealth,"  is  so  childish  as  to  excite  suspicion  of  its 
motive. 

If  inflammatory  appeals  like  this  are  really  believed 
by  the  leaders,  the  explanation  must  lie  in  the  fact 
that  the  birth-pangs  of  this  Colorado  strike  left  emo- 
tional hatreds  so  intense  as  to  make  clear  thinking  or 
constructive  work  impossible.  In  private  conversa- 
tions, I  have  found  that  "labor,"  as  used  by  leaders, 
included  far  more  than  the  wage  earner,  but  that  it 

1  Thr  Gr^.iTs!  Strike,  p.  13. 


m^t^l^J^^^Ji-^ 


•^^''^ij^:::^^:^^^^::^^^^:::.:'^: 


THE   I.   VV.   W. 


83 


was  "better  not  to  say  much  about  it."  "If  we  begin 
hair-splitting,"  said  one,  "we  should  muddle  them 
up."  "We  are  out  to  make  them  conscious  of  their 
class  interests;  conscious  that  those  interests  are  not 
the  interests  of  the  employers.  To  make  them  believe 
that  and  act  on  it  is  our  work."  Another  said  to  me, 
"We  do  just  what  the  preachers  and  professors  do— 
we  give  cur  people  as  much  light  as  we  think  safe,"  — 
a  statement  which  has  its  own  disconcerting  truth 
about  many  others  besides  preachers  and  profes- 
sors. 

The  shock  of  this  conflict  in  Colorado  had  scarcely 
ceased  before  plans  were  on  foot  to  create  a  powerful, 
all-inclusive  labor  organization,  independent  of  special 
craft  unions.  Before  the  year  (1904)  closed,  a  gather- 
ing was  held,  resulting  in  a  Secret  Conference  in 
Chicago  on  the  January  following.  Thirty  of  the  two 
and  thirty  invited  delegates  were  promptly  on  the 
spot.  From  this  came  in  June  the  first  convention 
with  its  186  delegates  claiming  to  represent  90,000 
members.  Only  a  small  part  of  these  proved  faithful 
to  the  first  declared  purpose  of  the  gathering.  To 
protect  themselves  from  "traitorous  intruders,"  those 
first  to  call  the  meeting  so  managed  credentials  by 
shrewd  rulings  as  to  prevent  the  capture  of  the  con- 
vention. From  that  moment  the  warfare  has  not 
ceased.  The  National  Secretary  writes:  "It  is  a  fact 
that  many  of  those  who  were  present  as  delegates  on 
the  floor  jf  the  first  convention  and  the  organizations 
that  they  represented  have  bitterly  fought  the  I.  W. 
W.  from  the  close  of  the  first  convention  to  the  present 
day."    For  twelve  days  the  principles  of  the  new  order 


'  1 1 


Hi 


84 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


n 


.M 


were  discussed.  The  failure  and  futility  of  trade 
union  policies  got  passionate  emphasis.  In  the  first 
form  of  the  Preamble,  the  most  rank  offense  is  that 
"the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead 
the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have 
interests  in  common  with  their  employers."  To  avoid 
this  partnership  with  the  enemy,  labor  in  an  entire 
industry  must  be  massed  into  one  common  group,  no 
part  of  which  can  be  pitted  by  employers  against  an- 
other. This  is  to  be  done  in  such  way  that  all  the 
•'members  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries,  if 
necessary,  cease  work  whenever  there  is  a  strike  or 
lockout  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an 
injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all." 

It  is  to  be  carefully  noted  what  this  means.  This 
all-inclusive  union  rests  upon  the  assumption  that 
their  mass-interests  are  one  and  the  same,  as  against 
the  interests  of  the  employing  class.  As  we  have 
seen,  this  illusion  brought  troubles  thick  and  fast  upon 
their  forerunners,  the  Knights  of  Labor.  It  forced 
instant  differences  in  this  first  assembly  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
One  of  the  more  prominent  members,  still  faithful,  as 
a  leading  official  writes  of  the  Convention: 

"All  kinds  and  shades  of  theories  and  programs  were 
represented  among  the  delegates  and  individuals 
present  at  the  first  convention.  The  principal  ones 
in  evidence,  however,  were  four:  Parliamentary  social- 
ists—two types— impossibilist  and  opportunist;  Marx- 
ian and  reformist  anarchists;  industrial  unionist;  and 
the  labor  union  fakir.  The  task  of  combining  these 
conflicting  elements  was  attempted  by  the  conven- 
tion." 


iM#^i^^-'f*^'V-.>;'4 


THE  r.  w.  vv. 


Their  resources  were  then  and  there  sorely  strained 
to  control  a  membership  so  diverse  in  fundamental 
ideas  of  social  reconstruction. 

Of  the  year  that  followed  before  the  convention  of 
1906,  Mr.  St.  John  writes  as  General  Secretary: 

"The  first  year  of  the  organization  was  one  of  in- 
ternal struggle  for  control  by  ♦hese  different  elements. 
The  two  camps  of  Socialist  politicians  looked  upon  the 
I.  W.  W.  only  as  a  battle  ground  on  which  to  settle 
their  respective  merits  and  demerits.  The  Labor 
fakirs  strove  to  fasten  themselves  upon  the  organiza- 
tion that  they  m"  .ontinue  to  exist  if  the  new 
Union  was  a  succ  j.  The  anarchist  element  did  not 
interfere  to  any  great  extent  in  the  internal  affairs." 

Even  in  the  socialist  "Western  Federation  of 
Miners  "  irreconcilable  differences  soon  appeared.  The 
Secretary  says:  "The  radical  element  in  the  W.  F.  M. 
were  finally  able  to  force  their  officials  to  withdraw 
their  support.  The  old  officials  of  the  I.  W.  W.  then 
gave  up  all  pretence  of  having  an  organization." 

A  fighting  plan  was  next  developed  and  several 
"successful"  battles  fought  with  the  employing  class. 
Their  organ,  The  Industrial  Worker,  was  started  and 
the  first  steps  taken  toward  the  defense-fund  to  save 
Moyer,  Haywood  and  Pettibone,  the  jailed  officials  of 
the  Western  Federation.  Under  the  title,  "Shall  our 
Brothers  be  Murdered?"  and  identifying  the  issue 
with  the  Moyer  and  Haywood  cause  with  their 
"basic  principle,"— the  class  struggle,  the  open  prop- 
aganda was  now  fairly  under  way. 

The  second  convention  (1906)  brought  eighty-three 
delegates,  "representing  60,000  members."    A  tussle 


I'  I 


(;  '"I it' 
if  l^= 


1)2 1 


*'-', 


'Hi 


86 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


U 


at  once  began  between  the  "revolutionary  camp" 
and  the  "reactionaries,"  whereupon  the  revolutionists 
abolished  the  office  of  President,  putting  a  revolution- 
ist in  the  chair.  A  new  executive  board  was  elected 
and,  on  adjournment,  "the  old  officials  seized  the 
general  headquarters,  and  with  the  aid  of  detectives 
and  police  held  the  same,  compelling  the  revolution- 
ists to  open  up  new  offices."  ' 

The  third  convention  presented  no  new  issue,  but 
the  fourth  brought  a  split  of  more  radical  character 
in  which  we  see  the  "political"  pitted  squarely 
against  the  "industrial  socialist."  It  was  this  con- 
vention which  produced  the  final  and  amended  pre- 
amble, sharpening  the  issues  between  its  own  revolu- 
tionary method  and  all  the  halting  processes  that  wait 
upon  political  action.  Here  the  "general  strike"  of 
all  the  members  in  any  industry  or  "in  all  industries  if 
necessary"  appears  as  the  final  resource  in  its  assault 
on  the  wage  system. 

PREAMBLE 

The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in 
common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and  want 
are  found  among  millions  of  the  working  people  and  the  few, 

'  In  these  beginnings,  the  man  of  widest  popular  influence — the 
"perpetual  Socialist  candidate"  for  President,  Mr.  Debs,  was  moved 
to  say  before  a  great  .ludience  in  \ew  V'ork  City: 

"The  revoluiionary  movement  of  the  working  class  will  date  from 
the  year  1905,  from  the  organization  of  the  Intjustrial  Workkrs 
OF  THE  World.  .  .  .  The  old  form  of  unionism  has  long  since  ful- 
filled its  mission  and  outlived  its  usefulness,  and  the  hour  has  struck 
for  a  change." 

Mr.  Debs  has  since  had  his  discipline  with  this  body,  but  he  strikes 
the  note  of  antagonism  to  the  ordinary  trade  union,  of  which  we  have 
not  heard  the  last. 


-',-    .^^    jjiT  ■-..-. 


--'{^-^'^ 


^^•^m^.z"m 


THi;  I.  vv.  w. 


87 


who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have  all  the  good  things  of 
life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  strugi?le  must  go  on  until  the 
workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of  the 
earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and  abolish  the  wage 
system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  the  management  of  industries 
into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions  unable  to 
cope  with  the  evergrowing  {wwer  of  the  employing  class.  The 
trade  unions  foster  a  slate  of  affairs  which  allows  one  set  of 
workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  .set  of  workers  in  the  same 
industry,  thereby  helping  defeat  one  another  in  wage  wars. 
Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid  the  employing  class  to  mislead 
the  workers  into  the  belief  that  the  working  class  have  interests 
in  common  with  their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of  the 
working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in  such  a 
way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  all  industries 
if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in 
any  department  thereof,  thus  making  an  injury  to  one  an  injury 
to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wages  for 
a  fair  day's  work,"  wc  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the  revolu- 
tionary watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away  with 
capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be  organized,  not 
only  for  the  cvery-day  struggle  with  capitalists,  but  also  to 
carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have  been  over- 
thrown. By  organizing  industrially  we  are  forming  the  struc- 
ture of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 

It  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate  the  importance  which 
members  attach  to  this  use  of  "contracts"  and  "trade 
agreements"  in  defeating  strikes. 

Scores  of  warning  examples  are  given  in  their 
literature  to  show  how  competing  unions  having  con- 
tracts of  different  date  are  used  by  employer  and 


U: 


'     ! 


I  U 


1:6, 


m 

if'? 


m 


88 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


M 


unions  alike  to  defeat  "the  strike  that  stands  for  the 
solidarity  of  labor."  VV.  E.  Trautmann  thus  illus- 
trates the  grounds  of  hostility  to  trade  union  jKilicies 
in  concrete  cases  which  best  tell  the  story. 

"  The  meat  wagon  drivers  of  Chicago  were  organized 
in  1902.  They  made  demands  for  better  pay  and 
shorter  hours.  Unchecked  by  any  outside  influence 
they  walked  out  on  strike.  They  had  the  sujjport  of 
all  other  workers  in  the  packing  houses.  They  won. 
But  before  they  resumed  work  the  big  packing  firms 
insisted  that  they  enter  into  a  contract.  They  did. 
In  that  contract  the  teamsters  agreed  not  to  engage 
in  any  sympathetic  strike  with  other  employes  in  the 
plants  or  stockyards.  Not  only  this,  but  the  drivers 
also  decided  to  split  their  union  into  three.  They  then 
had  the  'Bone  and  Shaving  Teamsters,'  the  'Packing 
House  Teamsters,'  and  the  'Meat  Delivery  Drivers.' 

"Encouraged  by  the  victory  of  the  teamsters,  the 
other  workers  in  the  packing  houses  then  started  to 
organize.  But  they  were  carefully  advised  not  to 
organize  into  one  body,  or  at  the  best  into  one  Na- 
tional Trades  Union.  They  had  to  be  divided  up,  so 
that  the  employers  could  exterminate  them  all  when- 
ever opportunity  presented  itself. 

'"Now  observe  how  the  dividing-up  process  worked. 
The  teamsters  were  members  of  the  'International 
Union  of  Teamsters.'  The  engineers  were  connected 
with  the  'International  Union  of  Steam  Engineers.' 
The  firemen,  oilers,  ashwheelers  were  organized  in  the 
'Brotherhood  of  Stationary  Firemen.'  Carpenters 
employed  in  the  stockyards  permanently  had  to  join 
the  'Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners.'    The 


'^f  <•,■■■ 


■~T';   .^■'v*^'vj-:tw-' 


-"h^^ 


THK  I.  W.  W. 


89 


pipe  and  steam  fitters  were  memberH  of  another 
'National  Union.'  The  sausage  makers,  the  packers, 
the  canning  department  workers,  the  beef  butchers, 
the  cattle  butchers,  the  hog  butchers,  the  bone  shavers^ 
etc.,  each  craft  group  had  a  separate  union.  Each 
union  had  difTerent  rules,  all  of  them  not  permitting  any 
infringements  on  them  by  others.  Many  of  the  unions 
had  contracts  with  the  employers.  These  contracts  ex- 
pired at  different  dales.  Most  of  the  contracts  contained 
the  clause  of  "no  support  to  others  when  engaged  in  a 
controversy  with  the  stockyard  companies.'"  ' 

The  directory  of  unions  of  Chicago  shows  in  1903,  a 
total  of  fifty-six  different  unions  in  the  packing  houses, 
divided  up  still  more  in  fourteen  different  national 
trades  unions  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

To  relieve  this  source  of  trouble,  the  I.  W.  W.  ask 
that  this  collective  labor  in  the  meat  industry  band 
together  into  one  common  union  that  may  act  as  a 
unit  against  employers  and  "labor  fakirs"  alike. 

In  this  history  of  disrupting  antagonisms,  we 
watch  again  the  fall  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Even 
the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  soon  refused  to 
pay  dues  and  dropped  out  to  set  up  again  their  own 
local  autonomy,  thus  telling  their  young  offspring 
that  the  miners'  interests  are  at  least  for  the  present 
by  no  means  identical  with  the  new  and  loosely  af- 
filiated mass  called  L  W.  W. 

Of  no  less  significance  is  the  appearance  of  another 
schism,  already  wider  and  deeper  in  Europe,  "The 
True  I.  W.  W."     This  is  the  "reformist,"  "anti- 

_     >As  this  2oe=  tn  pre.,  the  I.  W.  W.  In   New  York  City  atuck 
in  the  same  spirit  the  "  agreements  "  in  the  garment  makers  suike. 


*'  i^ 


*    ffiri 


'  M^ 


I'm 


'  li 


9° 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


U 


1 


violence,"  and  "more  moderate"  group  with  head- 
quarters in  Detroit.  It  now  sends  out  its  own  litera- 
ture, most  of  which  bears  the  impress  and  emphasis 
of  the  "Socialist  Labor  Party,"  a  small  but  fighting 
antagonist  of  the  "Socialist  Party."  * 

The  older  body  of  the  I.  W.  W.  assures  us  that  this 

offshoot   is    "an   insignificant   faction"   which   has 

"made  nothing  but  mistakes  and  will  continue  the 

same  occupation."   The  last  Convention  (the  seventh, 

191 2),  in  Chicago,  has  been  reported  at  length  by 

a  derisive  member  of  the  smaller  but  "  True  I.  W.  W."^ 

He  entitles  his  report  the  "Summery  Congress"  of 

the  "  So-called  I.  W.  W."    In  the  C  ngress  itself  pride 

was  expressed  that,  in  spite  of  great  growth  fn  the 

organization,  the  two  enemies,  "opportunism"  and 

"respectabihty,"  were  effectually  excluded.     Every 

man  of  them  was  "red"  to  the  heaiL,  "to  a  man  they 

rejected  the  moral  and  ethical  teaching  of  the  existing 

order."    They  rejoice  that  negro  repiesentatives  have 

been  taken  into  the  brotherhood  and  that  soon  "the 

whistle  will  blow  for  the  day  when  the  boss  will  have 

to  go  to  work."    At  the  same  time  we  read  in  their 

report  that,  "The  McNamara  bi others,  deserted  and 

repudiated  by  those  for  whom  they  fought  and  by  the 

cowardly  politicians  who  sought  to  make  political 

'  The  differences  between  the  larger  and  smaller  organizadons  are 
clearly  stated  in  a  pamphlet  by  A.  Rosenthal  entitled,  "The  Differ- 
ences between  the  Socialist  Party  and  the  Socialist  Labor  Party;  also 
between  Socialism,  Anarchism,  and  Anti  Political  Industrialism." 
Printed  at  134  Watkins  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

'This  literature,  together  with  their  organ.  The  Industrial 
Union,  may  be  had  from  the  General  Secretary,  H.  Richter,  P.  0. 
Box  651,  Detroit,  Michigan. 


THE  I.  W.  W. 


91 


capital  from  their  arrest,  were  not  forgotten.  When 
the  Secretary  Mr.  St.  John  read  a  stirring  message  of 
greeting  to  them,  recognizing  them  as  fighters  in  the 
cause  of  labor  and  hoping  for  their  early  release,  it 
was  met  with  "a  shout  of  approval  from  the  delegates." 
There  is  but  one  thing  to  be  made  out  of  this  message. 
It  is  not  its  distinction  that  it  expresses  human  sym- 
pathy with  men  in  distress.  Knowing  perfectly  well 
what  work  the  McNamaras  had  done,  they  are  here 
greeted /or  what  they  have  done  for  "the  cause  of  labors 
Is  all  that  black  destruction  of  life  and  property  really 
in  the  "cause  of  labor"?  Yet  this,  according  to  the 
report,  "was  met  with  a  shout  of  approval  from  the 
delegates." 

It  is  much  milder,  but  still  not  pleasant  reading, 
that  we  are  to  substitute  the  "General  Strike"  and 
the  squally  passions  of  public  assemblies  for  court 
procedure.    We  read: 

The  appearance  of  BUI  Haywood  Friday  morning  was  the 
signal  for  an  ovation.  In  a  short  address  he  gave  hearty  ap- 
proval to  the  General  Strike  proclamation  issued  by  the  con- 
vention for  September  30,  and  assured  the  delegates  that  it 
would  be  responded  to  by  a  sufficient  number  of  workers  in  the 
east  to  accomplish  the  release  of  Ettor  and  Giovanitti. 

In  the  same  tone  a  French  syndicalist  reporter  now 
in  this  country  compares  the  Ettor  trial  with  that  of 
the  Haymarket  anarchists  adding,  "Then  Haywood 
gave  the  authorities  a  strong  warning.  A  date  was 
set  at  once  for  their  trial.  When  it  became  evident 
that  the  world  would  witness  a  repetition  of  the  Hay- 
market  incident,  another  warning  reached  the  court, 
Ettor  and  Giovanitti  were  freed."  ' 

'  Tkf.  Independent,  Jan.  9,  1913,  p.  75. 


iK 


n  i  f 


iiiij  '■^" 


^  ^         '1  '11  !-■■ 


Id 


VIII 
GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

For  our  own  country,  it  has  considerable  signifi- 
cance that  the  newer  immigrant  is  everywhere  con- 
spicuous hi  the  I.  W.  W.  The  older  American  leader- 
ship has  to  consider  him  in  all  its  tactics.  That  so 
many  of  these  new-comers  are  without  votes  is  no 
mean  asset  for  revolutionary  propaganda. 

In  the  language  of  EngUsh  suffragettes,  "Because 
we  have  no  votes,  we  must  choose  other  means  to 
gain  our  ends,"  is  an  argument  I  have  heard  used  with 
the  same  effect,  as  the  lack  of  funds  in  French  trade 
unions  is  thought  to  be  good  reason  for  direct  action. 
They  can  neither  afford  nor  wait  results  of  slow  and 
indirect  activity. 

Of  the  same  nature  as  a  characteristic  is  the  youth 
of  the  membership.  The  groups  I  saw  in  the  West 
bore  this  stamp  so  unmistakably  as  to  suggest  bodies 
of  students  at  the  end  of  a  rather  jolly  picnic.  The 
word  "bum"  usually  applied  to  them  in  that  region 
does  not  fit  them.  There  are  plenty  of  older  men,  as 
there  are  men  with  every  appearance  of  being  "down 
and  out"— with  trousers  chewed  off  at  the  heels,  after 
the  manner  of  tramps,  but  in  face  and  bearing  they 
are  far  from  "bums." 

In  one  of  the  speeches  the  young  were  addressed  as 
"best  material,"  because  they  could  stand  the  wear 
and  tear  of  racking  journeys.    They  were  free  from 

93 


'"-isr.'jJL 


CKNKRAL  CHARACTERISTICS  93 

family  responsibilities,  and  could  at  any  moment 
respond  to  the  call  of  duty.  In  a  report  of  this  year's 
Convention  (191 2)  "the  predominance  of  young 
blood"  is  noted  with  approval.  "Ninety  per  cent 
were  under  thirty  years  of  age,"  which  means  a  large 
percentage  of  very  young.  But  of  most  importance 
m  this  breezy  commotion  is  the  extreme  and  even 
frantic  assertion  of  its  main  ideas  and  practices. 

Only  a  small  and  unknown  fraction  of  labor  in  any 
country  has  any  conscious  relation  to  what  is  dis- 
tinctive in  Syndicalism,  but  this  defect  is  more  than 
made  up  by  daring  and  dramatic  assertion  of  its 
"principles."    These  in  the  main  are  not  new,  except 
in  changes  wrought  by  the  technical  revolution  of 
modern  industry.    The  dream  of  throwing  the  labor 
masses  into  one  aU-embracing  Union  is  at  least  as  old 
as  the  "Grand  National  ConsoUdated  Trade  Unions" 
of  1834,  with  the  addition,  moreover,  of  the  "General 
Strike  "  as  its  great  weapon.   We  have  seen  how  much 
of  SyndicaHsm  was  a  propeUing  force  in  the  meteoric 
career  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.    As  this  streak  of  fire 
buraed  out  in  the  early  nineties,  SyndicaUsm  reap- 
pears in  France.   It  appears  in  action,  in  metaphysical 
quiddities,  and  in  Uterary  rhapsodies.    In  action,  it 
rebels  against  the  halting  ineffectiveness  of  legislative 
reforms  in  cities  and  government.    It  is  noted  that 
every  law  and  ordinance  to  improve  things  socially 
has  to  be  amended  year  after  year  before  it  works  at 
all,  and  even  then,  it  works  but  lamely  for  the  general 
good.    Against  these  discouragements,  the  more  fiery 
and  headlong  spirits  among  Socialists  rebel  and  in- 
tellectually fraternize  with  anarchists.     They  rebel 


III 


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AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


I"     f 


against  the  State  (as  anarchists  always  have)  and 
against  its  himbering  procedure  through  parliamentary 
delays.     These  social    aws,  says  one  of  them,  "are 
mere  substitutes  for  action.    They  move  with  feet  of 
lead  when  we  want  wings."    To  fly  to  their  goal  in- 
stead of  walking  to  it,  bi  omes  a  passion.    As  they 
turn  gruflly  from  the  State  and  from  the  lazy  ways  of 
legal  change,  they  also  turn  from  the  employer.    This 
is  among  the  drolleries  of  the  situation.    After  em- 
ployers have  been  revelling  in  their  own  refusal  to  "  rec- 
ognize" trade  unions,  our  I.  W.  W.  turn  the  tables. 
"We,  too,  refuse  to  'recognize'  employers."  "We  quit 
work  without  consulting  them.     We  go  back  to  work 
without  notice.    In  all  ways  they  shall  be  ignored." 
If  capitalism  is  "organized  corruption,"  why  should 
labor,  the  "all-creative,"  recognize  it?    This,  too,  it  is 
said  is  as  insincere  and  farcical  as  to  recognize  the 
politician  and  the  state.    This  impatient  activity  was 
all  there  before  it  got  philosophic  expression  in  the 
writings  of  George  Sorel,    He  gave  to  it  the  metaphys- 
ical touch  that  works  as  mystically  on  the  imagination 
as  the  shadowy  dialectic  of  Marx  worked  upon  the 
awed   devotees   who   could   but    faintly   guess    his 
meaning. 

Rapidly  a  group  of  writers,  either  workingmen  or 
in  the  closest  way  identified  with  them,  put  the  new 
purpose  into  a  literature  for  propaganda.  If  there 
is  no  help  from  the  State,  the  politician,  or  the  em- 
ployer, the  logic  is  evident.  The  worker  must  turn  to 
himself  and  to  the  trade  union  as  his  fighting  arm. 
If  the  State  and  employer  alike  are  the  enemy,  this 
enemy  must  be  disabled,  in  all  ways  badgered  and 


>m 


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GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  95 

discomfited.    As  all  the  workers  are  to  be  brought  in, 
the  lowest  possible  dues  must  be  charged  or  even  no 
dues  at  all.    The  strike  then  becomes  supreme.     It 
must  be  short,  sharp  and  unexpected.     It  must  be 
sudden  and  explosive  to  show  its  power.    It  must  aim 
at  the  most  vital  spot.    For  practice,  you  may  keep 
your  hand  in  by  strikes  in  smaller  industries,  but 
transportation  is  the  great  target,— the  railroad  best 
of  all,  because  it  is  the  nerve  system  of  distribution. 
Cripple  this,  and  hunger  will  stalk  the  streets  within 
a  fortnight.    Always,  too,  sabotage  is  in  order.     It 
frets  and  harries  the  employer.     It  strikes  at  his 
profits.    With  skill  and  a  "fine  conspiracy  "  among  the 
laborers,  the  spoiled  product  cannot  be  traced.    The 
destroyer  may  work  as  subtly  as  a  disease  with  no 
fear  of  punishment. 

This  gospel  of  destruction  has  a  quite  fascinating 
versatility.  On  the  one  hand  we  are  assured  that 
capitalism  has  reached  senility.  Though  never  more 
prolific  of  depravity,  never  more  active  in  parasitic 
lecheries,  its  real  power  is  so  near  its  end,  that  a  few 
years  of  adroit  and  vigorous  assault  and  it  will  tumble 
of  its  own  weight. 

Others  speak  as  if  the  strength  of  capitalism  was 
never  so  great.  The  proof  offered  is  that  three  genera- 
tions of  social  and  other  legislation  meant  to  curb  its 
power  have  obviously  failed. 

The  supposed  discovery  of  this  failure  of  political 
and  social  reform  is  vital.  If  these  attempts  have  done 
nothing  to  relieve  the  exploitation  of  the  weak:  if 
reform  does  not  even  show  a  tendency  to  such  allevia- 
tion then  sedition  may  justify  itself. 


.»"* » 


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96 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


It  is  the  essence  of  "social  legislation"  that  it  stands 
for  the  public  welfare  and  not  for  any  special  interest. 
Piece  by  piece,  since  1802,  in  England,  it  has  been 
built  up.    It  has  tried  to  "regulate"  the  more  lawless 
forces  of  competing  private  interests,  as  well  as  the 
health,  housing,  hours  and  conditions  of  labor,  the 
child  in  industry,  occupational  diseases,  industrial 
insurance,  and  then,  with  more  specific  intent,  the 
direct  curbing  of  corporate  powers  in  banks,  railways, 
insurance,  and  the  whole  extending  network  of  big 
business  as  it  becomes  national  in  its  affiliations.    It 
is  generally  believed  that  these  forces  have  been  re- 
strained to  the  common  good;  that  they  cannot,  as 
of  old,  show  contempt  for  public  opinion,  even  if 
they  feel  it.    Large  sections  of  English,  German  and 
French  Socialists  agree  in  this,  that  legislative  reforms 
have  already  produced  immense  benefits  and  that  the 
way,  even  for  Socialists,  is  along  this  same  pathway 
of  enlarged  and  more  coherent  amelioration. 

True  or  false  this  issue  cuts  to  the  marrow  of  our 
question.  It  presents  the  case  about  which  the  main 
struggle  of  the  future  is  to  turn.  Is  the  present  society 
to  be  "reformed"  into  some  tolerable  measure  of  jus- 
tice and  "equal  hope  for  all"?  Are  the  main  lines 
of  this  regeneration  already  traced,  with  such  clear- 
ness that  we  have  only  to  continue  as  we  have  begun? 
Or,  are  we  to  confess  their  futility  and  fall  to,  in  good 
I.  W.  W.  fashion,  to  ridicule  charities,  philanthropies, 
social  settlements,  welfare  work,  sliding  scales,  arbi- 
tration and  the  full  score  of  other  attempts  to  unite 
and  organize  the  entire  good  will  of  society  and  not 
merely  a  "class  conscious"  part  of  it? 


GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS 


97 


f 


But  syndicalist  criticism  goes  much  further.    We 
have,  for  example,  taken  the  Post  Office  away  from  the 
private  profit  maker  to  manage  it  democratically  and 
directly  for  public  uses.    Most  of  the  world's  railroads 
have  been  taken  by  the  State;  a  large  part  of  trolley 
lines,  gas,  telephone,  telegraph;  a  good  deal  of  private 
insurance,  mines  and  water  powers,  together  with  a 
long  list  of  municipal  hotels,  restaurants,  milk,  sup- 
plies; all  these  have  already  been  "socialized,"  "taken 
over"  for  public  administration  "in  the  interests  of 
all."    These  are  for  the  most  part  imperfectly  man- 
aged,  but  their  intent  is  socialistic,   because   they 
lessen  the  area  of  private  investment.     Are  we  to 
continue  In  this  direction  by  carrying  out  this  same 
process  to  its  supposed  logical  completeness?    When 
it  is  applied  to  banks,  land,  shipping,  mills,  mines,  and 
the  entire  body  of  more  important  industries,  shall 
we  have  the  essentials  of  the  Socialist  State? 

In  every  advanced  country,  this  is  the  express 
claim  of  a  most  influential  part  of  the  active  and 
disciplined  leadership  among  Socialists.  At  the  points 
where  they  secure  political  power  and  responsibility, 
this  opinion  steadily  gains  in  influence.  This  view 
assumes  that  the  evils  of  capitalism  are  slowly  being 
lessened  and  that  the  way  to  diminish  them  further 
still,  is  to  extend  the  whole  regulating  and  "socializ- 
ing" process  now  under  way. 

The  hot  protest  against  the  above  is  not  confined  to 
the  I.  W.  W.  Hosts  of  more  revolutionary  spirits 
reject  these  "bourgeois  conciliations,"  but  none  re- 
ject them  with  more  contemptuous  unanimity  than 
Syndicalists  in  general.    They  tell  us  that  our  prevail- 


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98 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


ing  business  system  never  was  more  triumphant  or 
unrepentant.    Never  did  it  strip  labor  closer  to  the 
bone.    Never  did  it  lug  away  to  private  vaults  so 
large  a  share  of  that  wealth  wrung  from  the  toil  and 
sweat  of  those  who  labor.    From  its  inner  kingdom 
of  finance,   its  cunning  devices  of  "underwriting" 
and   control   of  credit,   marketing   securities,   over- 
capitalization, and  such  like  juggleries,  the  powers  of 
capitalism  so  control  the  final  dividing  of  products  as 
to  get  absolutely  and  relatively  an  increasing  pillage 
for  their  share.    In  these  round  terms  of  condemna- 
tion Syndicalists  speak  to  us  of  discredited  social  and 
economic  reform  ahke.    It  has  no  more  fundamental 
characteristic  than  this. 

No  man  believing  this  could  escape  the  syndicalist 
logic.  If  for  nearly  three  generations,  all  the  stupen- 
dous energies  to  curb  the  competitive  spirit  working 
through  capitalism,  have  come  to  nothing;  if  these 
energies,  working  through  local  and  pariiamentary 
activities  have  left  us  relatively  more  enfeebled  than 
ever  before  the  t>Tannies  of  private  capital,  why 
should  further  appeal  to  politics  and  "reforms"  in- 
spire a  spark  of  hope? 

Syndicalism  represents  this  "army  of  the  disillu- 
sioned." As  one  of  them  writes— "In  good  faith  we 
asked  elected  officials  to  get  redress  through  new  laws 
only  to  find  that,  one  by  one,  each  spoudng  coward 
lost  himself  body  and  soul  to  the  real  interests  of  the 
proletariat.  When  we  had  seen  John  Burns,  Miller- 
and,  Viviani  Briand  and  scores  of  lesser  socialist 
officials  yield  to  the  tawdry  fopperies  of  bourgeois 
entertainers  and    official    ceremonies,   we  got  onto 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  99 

that  game.    Now  we  know  where  to  look.    What 
is  to  be  '  -le  will  be  done  directly  by  ourselves,  the 
working  class,  and  we  will  forge  the  weapons  to  do  it." 
^  This  bitterne.ss  of  disappointment  had  wide  expres- 
sion  in    France    before   any   "philosopher"    (Sorel. 
Berth,  Lagardelle  or  the  supposed  succor  of  Professor 
Henri  Bergson)  had  given  it  more  oracular  expression. 
In  the  United  States  it  is  the  same.    Several  years 
before  our  "intellectuals"  furnished  a  literary  ritual 
to  the  I.  W.  W.,  hundreds  of  soap-box  evangelists  had 
been  telling  their  listeners  to  turn  their  backs  both 
upon  political  reform  and  upon  the  whole  "scavenger 
brood  of  trade  union  cormorants."    "Until  the  work- 
ing class  turns  to  itself,  every  day  is  lost."    As  these 
disappointments   gain   in   volume,   literary   organs, 
East  and  West,  spring  up  to  give  them  voice.    From' 
men  of  university  training,  we  hear  that  "the  pro- 
letariat is  losing  ground  actually  and   relatively." 
"Against  labor,  capitalism  is  more  and  more  holding 
its  own."    It  grows  more  and  more  powerful.    It  does 
this  because  it  has  afHliations,  economic  and  political, 
which  give  it  such  strategic  pliancy  that  it  can  shift  its 
ground,  adapt  itself  to  hostile  legislation,  to  trade 
unions— which  it  honestly  thinks  a  scourge  and  a 
nuisance;  to  costly  welfare  adjuncts,  even  to  city  and 
state  ownership,  without  losing  an  atom  of  its  essen- 
tial dominance. 

Mr.  English  Walling's  able  book  Socialism  As  It  Is, 
is  filled  with  convictions  and  evidence  on  this  point.' 
When  Col.  Roosevelt  gave  out  his  program  at  Chicago 
(August,  191 2;,  it  was  attacked  from  many  quarters 
as  "Socialistic."    Socialist  papers  twitted  him  with 


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AiVIERICAN  SYXDICALISM 


Stealing  their  thunder.  The  Nationalist  Organ  at 
Washington  parallckd  the  Socialist  and  the  new  Roose- 
velt platforms  to  prove  what  valuable  plunder  the 
colonel  had  stolen  from  their  camp.  Yet  Mr.  Walling 
finds  no  item  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  list  that  is  in  any  in- 
telligible sense  socialistic.    He  writes: 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  programme  is,  in  the  Socialist  view,  neither 
populistic  nor  socialistic  in  the  sl^htcst  degree,  but  capitalistic. 
He  has  not  appropriated  a  single  Socialist  demand.  He  has 
merely  taken  up  certain  measures  the  Socialists  took  from  other 
radicals.  These  measures  were  placed  on  our  programme  be- 
cause it  was  seen  that  they  were  capable  of  immediate  realiza- 
tion, because  though  previously  neglected,  they  might  be  ac- 
cepted by  the  majority  of  capitalists  without  any  loss  to  them- 
selves or  any  necessary  danger  to  the  capitalist  system. 

To  this  the  "National  Socialist"  replies  through 
Mr.  Ghent:  "Mr.  Walling  would  have  come  somewhat 
nearer  the  facts  by  saying  just  the  opposite  of  what  he 
here  asserts.  It  is  ridiculous  to  maintain  that  Roose- 
velt's programme  is  in  no  degree  Socialistic."  The 
editorial  raises  the  great  shade  of  Marx  himself,  who 
says  that  these  reform  measures  "are  unavoidable  as 
a  means  of  entirely  revolutionizing  the  mode  of  pro- 
duction."   (August  24,  1912.) 

The  issue  here  seems  to  me  obviously  against  Mr. 
Walling  and  those  who  hold  with  him.  It  is  "ridicu- 
lous to  maintain  that  Roosevelt's  programme  is  in 
no  degree  Socialistic."  The  whole  syndicalist  flouting 
of  "reforms"  and  the  service  they  have  performed, 
and  are  likely  to  perform,  is,  I  think,  just  as  obviously 
a  mistaken  view,  but  its  emphasis  is  a  hall-mark  of 
SyndicaUsm,    Its  ideas  became  heady  and  extreme, 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  xoi 

they  pass,  as  if  caught  in  rapids  that  cannot  be 
stemmed,  to  the  most  revolutionary  limit,  as  "Class 
Consciousness''  for  example  p.-sses  into  "Class  War  " 
Our  own  labor  history  is  here  illuminating. 

As  the  Knights  of  Labor  began  to  totter  and  the 
Federation  of  Labor  took  shape,  the  extremists  of  the 
class-war"  type  formed  the  "Socialist  Trade  and 
Labor  Alliance,"  pitted  both  against  the  Federation 
of  Labor  and  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Every  difference 
every  enmity  toward  the  empl.)ying  class  and  toward 
umomsm  '  pure  and  simple  "  got  more  thumping  em- 
phasis. 

In  its  later  stages,  the  Knights  of  Labor  were  swept 
by  this  more  revolutionary  emotion.    This  temper  has 
now  passed  to  an  order  with  another  lettering-the 
I.  W.  W.    It  has  much  of  ihe  '       ,.y  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor;  much  of  its  more  indisc    ninate  working-class 
mclusivcness.   It  has  also  much  of  which  the  Knights 
of  Labor   consciously   knew   little.     This   consists 
chiefly  in  sharpening  the  fighting  edge  of  everx  revo- 
lutionary  weapon  in  the  socialist  armory.   An  hundred 
Knights  of  Labor  strikes  practised  sabotage,  but  they 
knew  not  the  word,  much  less  had  they  any  philosophy 
about  It.    The  new  warfare  has  passed  the  fig-leaf 
mnocencies  and  consciously  clothes  itself  in  pragmatic 
habits.    It  has  its  metaphysic  and  chooses  for  ex- 
positor, one  of  the  most  brilliant  among  modern 
philosophers  who  is  thought  to  dignify  and  sanction 
our  simpler  and  more  direct  activities.    No  less  fateful 
is  it  that  Syndicalism  comes  among  us  at  a  time  when 
the  general  atmosphere  is  electric  with  rude  and 
querulous  discontent;  when   censure  of  our  main 


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103 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


stabilities,  constitutions,  courts,  judges,  will  bring  ap- 
plause in  any  general  audiciici-  in  the  United  States. 
This  criticism  of  our  "secular  sanctities"  is  not  in  the 
least  an  all  air  of  mobs  alone.  It  speaks  openly  and 
unashamed  in  the  books  and  utterances  of  scholars 
and  first  rate  publicists.  In  nearly  three  hundred 
regular  socialist  periodicals,  this  defiant  criticism  has 
become  the  habitual  reading  of  some  millions  of  our 
inhabitants.  I  have  heard  a  large  working-class 
audience  burst  into  uproarious  guffaws  at  this  sentence 
spoken  from  the  [platform:  "No  society  could  exist 
that  did  not  respect  its  courts  of  justice."  A  very 
able  university  President  recently  attempted  the  de- 
fense of  our  conserving  institutions  in  a  popular  arena. 
He  was  so  heckled  and  worsted  that  he  left  the  meet- 
ing, feeling,  as  he  told  me,  that  "they  thoroughly 
wiped  the  floor  with  me." 

Any  one  who  thinks  these  illustrations  carry  any 
exaggeration  has  only  to  spend  some  hours  on  a  bundle 
of  this  literature  which  he  may  buy  on  the  streets 
in  any  industrial  center  of  the  United  States.  The 
lengths  to  which  this  challenging  goes  may  be  seen  in 
an  incident  two  months  ago  in  a  western  town.  The 
judge,  as  he  passed  sentence  for  "conspiracy,"  had 
spoken  gravely  of  what  a  court  of  justice  signifies.  He 
allowed  the  condemned  man  "a  few  words  in  his  own 
behalf,"  and  listened,  apparently  not  much  disturbed, 
to  the  following: 

There  are  ^nly  a  few  words  that  I  care  to  say.  and  this  court 
will  not  mistake  them  for  a  legal  argument,  for  I  am  not  ac- 
quainted with  the  phraseology  of  the  bar;  nor  the  language  com- 
mon to  the  courtroom. 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS 


103 


There  are  two  points  which  I  want  to  touch  upon— the  in- 
dictment itsrU  iuul  the  misstatement  of  the  prosecuting  at- 
torney. The  indiciment  reads:  "The  People  of  the  State  of 
California  against  J.  \V.  VVhyte  and  others."  It's  a  hideous  lie. 
The  people  in  this  courtroom  know  that  it  is  a  lie;  the  court 
itself  knows  that  it  is  a  lie,  and  I  know  that  it  is  a  lie.  .  .  . 
You  cowards  throw  ihe  blame  uyton  the  people,  but  I  know  who 
is  to  blame  and  I  name  them — it  is  .Spreckels  and  his  partners 
in  business  and  this  court  is  the  lackey  an<l  licksiiittie  of  ihat 
class,  defending  the  property  of  that  class  against  the  advancing 
horde  of  starving  American  workers. 

The  prosecuting  attorney  in  his  [)lca  to  the  jury  accuseil  me 
of  saying  on  a  public  |)latform  at  a  public  meeting:  "To  hell 
with  the  courts;  we  know  what  justice  is."  He  told  a  great 
truth  when  he  lied,  for  if  he  had  searched  the  innermost  re- 
cesses of  my  mind  he  could  have  found  that  thought,  never 
ipressed  by  mc  before,  but  which  I  express  now.  'To  hell 
A-ith  your  courts,  I  know  what  justice  is,"  for  I  have  sal  in  your 
courtroom  day  after  day  and  have  seen  members  of  my  class 
pass  before  this,  the  so-called  bar  of  justice.  .  .  . 

I  have  seen  you,  Judge ,  and  others  of  your  kind, 

send  them  to  prison  because  they  dared  to  infringe  ujwn  the 
sacred  rights  of  property.  You  have  become  blinii  and  deaf  to 
the  rights  of  man  to  pursue  life  and  happiness,  and  you  have 
crushed  those  rights  so  that  the  sacred  rights  of  property 
should  be  preserved.  Then  you  tell  mc  to  respect  the  law. 
I  don't.  I  did  violate  the  law,  and  I  will  violate  every  one  of 
your  laws  and  still  come  before  you  and  say:  "To  hell  with  the 
courts,"  because  I  believe  that  my  right  to  live  is  far  more  sacred 
than  the  sacred  right  of  property  that  you  and  your  kind  so 
ably  defend. 

I  don't  tell  you  this  with  the  expectation  of  getting  justice, 
but  to  show  my  contempt  for  the  whole  machinery  of  law  and 
justice  as  represented  by  this  and  every  other  court.  The 
prosecutor  lied,  but  I  will  accept  it  as  a  truth  and  say  again 

so  that  you.  Judge ,  may  not  be  mistaken  as  to  my 

attitude;  "To  hell  with  your  eourLs;  1  kuow  what  justice  is.' 


i 

r 

!      . 

■f, 

I 

'i 

? 

K 

t 

\ 

H 


.    I 


'^1 


.  t .'. 


it! 


•a. 


IT 


u 


104 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


This  speech  has  made  a  hero  of  the  jailed  Syndical- 
ist. When  his  confinement  ends,  as  a  vendor  of  "hot 
stuff,"  his  place  upon  the  I.  VV.  W.  platforms  will  be 
secure. 

To  see  the  I.  W.  W.  as  it  is;  to  see  it  with  the  eye 
that  understands,  whether  forgivingly  or  in  con- 
demnation, is  to  see  it  as  the  child  of  strife.  It  is  born 
out  of  conflict.  The  terrible  struggle  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  in  and  about  Chicago  which  made 
Mr.  Debs  so  famous,  has  the  initial  characteristic 
of  Syndicalism  becoming  conscious  of  itself.  The  fight 
was  so  desperate  that  all  the  unions  in  the  industry 
were  thrown  together.  This  gave  ihat  elated  sense  of 
collective  force,  out  of  which  this-  revolutionary  im- 
pulse springs.  In  saying  that  the  I.  W.  W.  began 
in  the  Colorado  strike,  means  only  that  a  more 
concentrated  contest  added  enough  intensity  to  the 
feeling  of  labor  solidarity  to  make  it  more  con- 
scious or  a  new  power.  Mr.  Debs'  education  in  his 
own  strike  prepared  him  for  the  first  I.  VV.  W.  Conven- 
tion a  few  months  later  as  effectively  as  if  he  had  been 
among  the  miners.  The  most  influential  men  in  that 
Chicago  gathering  (1905)  had  had  stormy  and  bitter 
experience. 

It  is  this  war-origin  of  the  I.  W.  W.  which  is  its 
weakness  on  the  constructive  side.  That  it  is  a  child 
of  strife,  brings  back  upon  itself  the  very  qualities 
which  are  admirable  for  battle,  but  which  make 
stability  and  organization  impossible.  They  lead  to 
the  quarrels  which  disrupt  the  attempts  at  steady 
team  work  from  the  very  start.  The  practical  danger 
to  the  I.  W.  W.  is  absence  of  trou^>!e.    If  industry  were 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS 


105 


SO  organized  as  to  prevent  strikes,  the  I.  W.  W.  would 
disappear. 

In  1909,  came  the  outbreak  at  McKees  Rocks,  with 
dictatorial  mismanagement  at  the  top  which  brought 
from  some  of  our  most  capitalistic  papers  the  most 
caustic  censure.  This  high  and  mighty  tone  was  the 
very  breath  of  life  to  the  I.  W.  VV.  Flocking  from 
every  quarter,  it  brought  sympathizers  reaJ,  to  fight 
in  their  cause.  It  is  this  fighting  feature  which  at- 
tracts so  many  journalists  and  those  of  artistic  and 
literary  temperament.  It  is  an  impulse  so  rich  in 
dramatic  satisfactions  as  to  be  the  happiest  windfall 
for  their  mood. 

All  the  drudgeries  and  enduring  strain  demanded  by 
reforms  like  civil  service,  good  housing,  social  hygiene, 
insurance,  and  the  like,  are  wan  and  colorless  compared 
to  the  inscrutable  pageantry— all  the  unexpectedness 
and  mystery  of  an  I.  W.  W.  attack. 

In  its  whole  popular  theory,  as  well  as  in  the  field- 
work  of  its  practice,  it  has  the  same  revolutionary 
emphasis  which  must  be  considered  under  successive 
heads. 


!:  - 

hi  ', 
«     ■ 

4n 
Mi' 

'    !'*■      ■    J. 

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I 


tf.-V'Ut 


ij 


IX 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLASSES 

Among  syndicalist  "fundamentals"  is  the  clear 
division  of  our  society  into  the  tool-owning  capitaUst 
class,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  wage  receiving  class  on 
the  other.     These  confront  each  other  as  enemies. 
The  employing  class  is  entrenched  behind  citad' Is 
of  private  property;  behind  the  whole  stupeuu  us 
mechanism  of  production,  behind  the  Constitution, 
the  courts,  and  all  that  "law  and  order"  mean  when 
interpreted  and  enforced  by  the  possessing  classes. 
Here,  massed  in  fancied  security,  is  the  foe  of  labor. 
Without,  is  the  vast,  ill-organized  multitude  of  the 
workers,  stupefied  and   confused  by  religious  and 
secular  instruction  guided  in  the  interest  of  those 
behind  the  fortress.    The  task  of  Syndicalism  is  to 
wake  this  formless  mob  of  dupes  out  of  its  stupor;  to 
make  them  see  the  enemy  as  he  is,  and  to  see  himself 
the  victim,  purposely  shut  out  and  excluded  from  the 
feasting  trenchers  behind  the  walls.     Between  this 
guarded  minority  and  the  huge,  straggling  multitude 
on  the  outside  there  is  as  little  in  common  as  between 
the  robber  and  the  robbed.    With  these  beliefs,  Syn- 
dicaHsts  ask,  how  is  this  formless  multitude  to  be 
brought  to  its  senses?   How  make  it  see  the  ugly  facts 
of  its  own  enslavement? 

for  this,  the  propaganda  of  the  I.  W.  W.  exists.    Its 
teeming  literature  bristles  with  metaphors,  carica- 

io6 


^••',fr 


w 


! 


THE  WAR   OF  THE  CLASSES 

tures,  exhortations,— all  with  the  single  aim  of  forcing 
this  overtopping  majority  to  look  searchingly  into  the 
gulf  that  yawns  between  it  and  the  enemy.  Syndical- 
ism marks  its  progress  by  the  number  of  its  conver- 
sions. Trautmann's  pamphlet,  Industrial  Unionism 
opens  with  the  words:  ' 

"A  portion  of  the  workers,  in  ever-increasing  num- 
bers, recognize  the  fact  that  the  working  class  and  the 
employing  class  have  nothing  in  common,  and  that 
the  struggle  must  go  on  until  all  the  toilers  come  to- 
gether and  take  and  hold  that  which  they  produce  by 
their  labor.    The  workers  begin  to  see  that  they  must 
not  only  prepare  themselves  to  hold  their  own  against 
the  aggressions  of  their  oppressors,  but  also  destroy 
the  fortifications  behind  which  the  enemy  has  en- 
trenched Wmself  in  his  possessions  of  land,  mills,  mines 
and  factories.    What  is  of  benefit  to  the  employers 
must,  self-evidently,  be  detrimental  to  the  employes." 
This  doctrine  is  not  peculiar  to  Syndicalism.    The 
general  socialist  movement  knows  it  of  old  and  has 
laid  upon  it  all  manner  of  emphasis. 

A  very  powerful  section  of  Socialism,  however,  has 
learned  some  restraint  in  the  uses  of  class  antagonism 
as  embodied  in  this  doctrine.  Many  of  the  ablest 
advocates  of  Socialism  have  declared  themselves 
wholly  against  it.  A  dozen  able  men  could  be  quoted 
to  this  effect.  H.  G.  Wells  writes  sentences  like  these: 
"Modern  Socialism  has  cleared  itself  of  that  jealous 
hatred  .  f  prosperity  that  was  once  a  part  of  class-war 
Socialism."  "It  refuses  no  one  who  will  serve  it. 
10  narrow  doctrinaire  cult.  It  does  not  seek  the 
if  an  argument,  but  the  best  of  a  worid.     Its 


IJii 


be; 


;, » . 


V 


IT 
'  i 

i.   t 


!' 


\t\    J!- ; 


io8 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


i\M 


worst  enemies  are  those  foolish  and  litigious  advocates 
who  antagonize  and  estrange  every  development  of 
human  Good  Will  and  does  not  pay  tribute  to  their 
vanity  in  open  acquiescence.    Its  most  loyal  servants, 
its  most  effectual  helpers  on  the  side  of  art,  invention 
and  public  organization  and  political  reconstruction, 
may  be  men  who  will  never  adopt  the  Socialist  name."* 
It  is  from  a  leader  of  the  English  Parliamentary 
Socialists  that  we  have  this  opinion:  "It  is  the  whole 
of  society  and  not  merely  a  part  of  society  that  is 
developing  toward   Socialism.     The   consistent  ex- 
ponent of  the  class  struggle  must,  of  course,  repudiate 
these  doctrines,  but  then  the  clas?   ^ruggle  is  far  more 
akin  to  Radicalism  than  to  Sociaii.sm."    "Socialists 
should,  therefore,  think  of  the  State  and  of  political 
authority  not  as  the  expression  of  majority  rule  or  of 
the  will  of  any  section,  but  as  the  embodiment  of  the 
life  of  the  whole  community."  - 

A  clear-headed  Socialist  like  Mr.  W.  J.  Ghent  stands 
stiffly  for  the  class  struggle  which  he  rightly  derives 
from  the  "economic  interpretation  of  history,"  but  he 
sounds  a  warning  to  those  who  overdo  it.  He  admits 
that  the  "intellectuals"  outside  the  proletariat  de- 
vised and  gave  this  very  doctrine,  "the  philosophy  of 
it  and  the  reasons  for  it,"  to  the  manual  workers.  He 
then  adds,3  "It  needs  to  be  said  plainly  that  there  is 
no  more  shameless  misleader  of  the  Socialist  proletariat 
than  the  demagogue  who  tries  to  create  antagonism 
against  the  educated  men  in  the  movement." 

•  New  Worlds  for  Old,  pp.  32i-,so; . 

'  Macdonald's  Socialism  and,  Government,  Vol.  I,  p.  91. 

'  Socialism  and  Siiccess.  p.  164. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  CI  ASSES 


log 


This  same  attack  on  "intellectuals"  is  incessant  in 
the  I.  W.  W.    It  appears  in  more  popular  form  in  the 
Italian  Syndicalist,  Enrico  Leone;  so  too,  the  German 
Syndicalist,  "Der  Pionier,"  taunts  the  sociaUst  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag  with  being  anything  and  every- 
thmg  except  wage  earners.    "How,  it  asks,  can  they 
lead  those  of  whose  lives  they  know  nothing?" 
^   It  is  wholly  true  that  this  class  conscious  appeal  has 
in  It  most  indispensable  utiUties.    The  workers  must 
be  made  conscious  of  every  whit  of  common  interest 
which  IS  genuinely  their  own.    This  consciousness  of 
unified  labor  interests"  has  in  it  great  educational 
value.    Its  value  is  all  the  more  precious  because  the 
hmits  of  its  actual  realization  are  so  narrow.     It 
should  be  encouraged  and  tolerated  because  the  little 
It  can  do  has  such  merit.    The  more  labor  jcds  its 
brotherhood,  the  more  power  it  possesses  to  enlarge 
Its  strategic  opportunities.     Socialism  does  well  to 
make  the  most  of  it.    It  has  great  kindling  and  arous- 
ing power.    It  is  true  too  that  the  main  struggle  has 
to  be  their  own.    In  this,  they  are  now  prepared  to 
take  advice  so  long  dealt  out  to  them.    It  is  a  classic 
Illustration  of  "bourgeois  morals"  to  encourage  self- 
reliance;  to  teach  the  poor  and  the  humble  to  "help 
themselves;"  to  trust  to  their  own  inner  resources 
rather  than  yield  in  flabby  acquiescence  to  their  more 
fortunate  brothers. 

Upon  reflection,  the  wage  earners  conclude  that  this 
well-meant  counsel  is  excellent  in  spite  of  its  sus- 
picious origin.  They  propose  now  to  "help  them- 
selves." In  order  to  make  the  advice  serviceable,  they 
are  to  take  it  not  as  individuals,  but  all  together.   They 


!«,;  1 


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no 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


'f  ;  ' 


are  to  have  "collective  efficiency/in  helping  them- 
selves." To  be  sure,  this  mass-method  does  not  lend 
Itself  to  the  convenience  of  the  superior  class  as  in 
the  older  ways  of  charity,  but  self-reliance  may  be 
the  gainer. 

The  fervors  that  bring  great  masses  of  labor  to- 
gether,  quenching   for   the   time   all   pettiness  and 
bickermg,  consuming  mean  enmities  among  leaders 
are  priceless.    By  the  help  of  this  deepened  "class  con- 
sciousness" trade  unionism  in  the  world  has  built  it- 
self into  a  tower  of  strength.     It  has  made  "col- 
lective bargaining"  possible.    It  is  this  enlarged  and 
quickened  sense  of  brotherhood  that  has  won  every 
memorable  strike  in  history,  like  that  of  the  London 
dockers  of  1886,  and  that  of  our  miners  in  1903     It 
is^  the  same  uplifting  that  has  won   the  poUtical 
triumphs  of  completer  suffrage  (as  in  Austria  and 
iieigium)  against  the  "vote  of  property." 
_   It  is  difficult  to  state  too  stiongly  the  strategic  and 
informing  value  of  the  class-conscious  appeal,  for  im- 
mediate and  practical  purposes.     But  this  i.  not  all 
the  story.    To  pass  from  these  conceded  uses  to  the 
Idea  of  a  "class  struggle,"  over-stimulated  and  en- 
forced as  an  unflinching  principle,  in  the  manner  of 
the  I.  W.  W.,  has  in  it  the  logic  of  social  dissolution 
From  long  and  hard  experience,  some  of  the  ablest 
men  that  Socialism  has  produced  no  longer  make 
this    mistake.       They    have    learned    a    far    larger 
thought  of  interests  that  infold  not  "labor"  alone 
but    the   whole   stumbling,    yet    climbing    race    of 
men  and  women  in  the  world.     They  have  learned 
that    'interc-ts"  bind  us  up  and  down,  perpendicu- 


^< 


;  ^.»~T 


p 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLASSES  ,„ 

larly  as  well  as  horizontally.  The  claim  that  interests 
unite  the  wage  earners  alone  and  apart  from  all  others, 
leads  to  the  most  treacherous  morass  through  which 
they  stagger  to  their  goal.  Labor  has  depths  of  in- 
terests that  are  in  common,  but  far  greater  depths 
of  interest  that  are  human  and  all-inclusive. 

Socialism  has  half  learned  this  lesson.  SyndicaUsm 
apparently  has  it  yet  to  learn.  From  the  beginnings 
Socialism  has  had  its  spasms  of  working-class  ex- 
clusiveness,  but  its  strength  and  progress  can  be 
defimtely  marked  by  its  hospitable  working  fellow- 
ship with  men  of  other  and  larger  training  or  at  least 
different  training.  Syndicalism  if  it  Uves  can  have  no 
other  history.! 

This  sharpening  of  antagonisms  leads  not  only  to 
warfare  against  "intellectuals  but  just  as  inevitably 
to  warfare  of  the  unskilled  against  the  more  skilled 
worker  thus  bringing  on  the  conflict  within  the  wage- 
earning  group. 

In  ominous  words  with  his  italics  Mr.  Walling 
writes:  ^ 

"This  mass  of  workers,  it  now  appears,  will  no  longer  wait 
for  the  permission  or  the  co-operation  of  the  skilled  before  they 
strike,  arid  this  constiMes  nothing  less  than  a  revolution  in  the 

'  The  following  is  a  recent  "ficl.l  note." 

"St.  Louis  Industrialists  have  organized  branches  'prohibiting 
Iaw>-ers,  preachers  and  professional  parasites  and  grafters  from  mem 
bersh.p.  We  believe  there  are  several  such  branches,  but  Branch  i 
will  not  accept  a  member  who  is  not  industrially  employed.  Branch  2 
IS  non-dues  paying.  Evidently  these  comrades  want  to  make  it  as 
easy  as  possible  for  actual  workers  to  -oin.  The  purpose  of  these 
Industrialist  Branches  i=  to  teach  Socialism  and  industrial  organiza- 
tion at  one  and  the  same  time.    Branch  i  dne^  pnf  „..  ^„„    ..!'_^.  „ 

'New  RevUiu,  Jan.  18.  191 2.  '^'"^P" 


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112 


AMERICAN'  SYNDICALISM 


h:bor  mmvmait.  If  the  aristocracy  of  labor  w  ill  give  them  no 
consideration,  they  arc  ready,  if  necessary,  to  tight  the  aris- 
tocracy. //  is  tins  warfare  bvtu'ccn  the  skuhd  and  the  unskilled 
and  not  any  other  Jijrercnce  of  principle,  that  constitutes  the  essence 
of  all  the  labor  union  and  socialist  attacks  on  the  I.  W.  IF." 

From  the  first  meeting  between  Sorcl  and  Pellouticr 
to  the  present  day,  "intellectuals"  have  been  of  such 
indispensable  service  to  the  cause,  that  no  intelligible 
account  of  it  could  be  given  without  them.    It  is  one 
of  the  signs  of  democratic  and  revolutionary  change 
that  men  of  rare  intellectual  gift  show,  like  Tolstoi,  a 
passion  to  identify  themselves  with  the  humblest  of 
their  kind.     Some  of  the  most  scorching  passages 
against  intellectuals,  masquerading  as  genuine  folk  of 
the  fourth  estate,  are  by  men  who  are  themselves 
nothing  if  not  "intellectuals."    No  one  can  surpass 
M.  Sorel  himself  in  this.    Bernard  Shaw  could  not  do 
it  better.     In  his  Uavenir  SociaUste  des  Syndicats, 
Sorel  has  only  a  withering  contempt  for  the  educated 
interlopers  in  the  movement.    Their  superiorities,  he 
says,  are  among  the  superstitions  of  the  proletariat. 
Like  mountebanks,  the  intellectuals  exploit  this  super- 
stition, flaunt  their  degrees  and  "professional  hum- 
bug" before  simple  men  not  yet  free  from  illusions  on 
which  pedants  have  always  fattened.    To  get  simple 
minded  working  people  free  from  this  strutiing  des- 
potism and  from  all  the  benumbing  "  '.uthority"  for 
which  it  stands,  is  one  of  the  greater  aims  of  Syn- 
dicalism.  Among  the  emblazonries  borne  in  the  recent 
I.  VV.  \V.  parade  at  Lawrence  one  read,  "No  God,  no 
-Mar'.er."    These  words  are  a  perfect  echo  of  Sorel's 
thought.     There  should  he  no  "masterv"  but  =clf- 


--#JbJ&il5|%«>-^ 


I 

li 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLASSES  „^ 

mastery      Neither  God  nor  man  should  supervise 
oaler  or  mterfere.    This  is  the  fight  also  again^C^  S 
who  chum  more  enlightenment  than  their  fellows 

Sorel  s  dudgeon  against  the  '-intellectual"  is  that 
..s  mteUcvtual)  he  i.  always  on  the  hunt  for  powl;     • 
nen.     This  leads  the  superior  person  to  the  political 
I'old  where,  among  the  suavities  of  parliamentary    t 
quette.  his  slow  but  certain  corruption  begins       n 
order  to  climb  higher  still  he  sells  out'to  the  next  high 
stratum  o    respectability.     The  politician,  as  sVr c 
portrays  bm.  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  pro" 
tute.-a  creature  for  sale.    He  is  forever  trXg  to 
persuade  labor  that  its  real  interests  are  the  same  a 
his  own,  or  of  the  party  to  which  he  adds  luster     Th" 
whole  mercenar>-  pack  is  ^^avide  de  posseder  les  pro^l 
dcs  cmpJois  public"  i  F^^Jis 

•.own  -or/    7"  '"^"'"^'^  "^^^'^^  ^^b°^  fa^^  ^^de 
1.^  oun  sohd  and  incontestable  gains  in  alliance  with 

pohncal  mtellectuals  who  have  given  everv  pt]    ' 
smcenty  that  disinterested  life-long  ser.-ice 'carries 
It  must  be  conceded  that  the  mon  sacred  struggle 

lead      tie    ,  "  T  "  ""^^^  '''''''  "^>-  ^^  -<^  'o 
iead,-the  struggle  toward  a  regenerated  and  reor- 
ganized society  in  which  at  la.t  everv  rotten  ^hred  of 
u^air  pn^-iIege  shall  be  cut  out.     But  this'5^h;r 
and  hardest  ta^k  i.  not  to  be  performed  bv  one  na-;! 

wiJ  .hall  be  shut  out  of  it.  All  who  can  and  v.-iH 
nia.t  play  their  part.  Ye.  even  the  defamed  p^!: 
lessor  01  over-weighted  million^   I'f  v,.  ;.  ,..^  ..  T  : 

,_       ,^  ''" --^   iOOi^ 

iet  U  Dtcompodtwn  du  Marxam. 


r 


%il\ 


■r  i 


|H'  i 


I.. 


tn! 


l:i 


!:f:ll 


,:-^»"C 


"4 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


7  i/ 


out  on  the  great  scene  from  some  higher  place,  shall 
have  a  welcome.  As  the  "Noble  Knights"  grew  un- 
easy  and  ashamed  because  physicians  were  excluded 
from  their  own  elect,  so  our  revolutionary  brothers, 
the  I.  W.  W.,  will  learn  the  shallowness  of  railing  as 
they  now  do  against  the  "intellectuals"  because  they 
"art  not  of  us." 

The  struggle  toward  the  larger  life  to  which  the 
world's  good  will  is  committed  is  a  task  too  heavy  and 
too  sacred  to  be  borne  and  shared  alone  by  any 
"class."  It  will  forever  remain  a  human  task,  from 
which  no  soul  shall  be  shut  out  who  wills  to  help. 


--""^li!^; 


.^w^- 


li 


THE  GENERAL  STRIKE 

As  things  are  felt  and  lived  before  any  literary  skill 
gives  them  form,  there  were  plenty  of  incoherent  up- 
nsmgs  with  every  characterisdc  of  the  General  Strike 
generations  before  Sorel's  sombre  genius  turned  them' 
into  a  religion  for  mass-acUvity.    It  is  the  despised 
intellectuals,"  now  and  in  the  past,  who  have  fur- 
nished the  effective  formulas  for  the  General  Strike- 
as  they  adjusted  the  conception  to  present  proletarian 
uses;  as  m  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  one  of  the 
most  bnlhant  journalists  of  Europe,  Emile  de  Giradin 
conceived  of  it  as  the  one  weapon  against  the  third 
Napoleon.     In  Victor  Hugo's  Histoire  d^un  Crime 
in  twenty  lines  that  burn  like  a  flame,  the  technique 
of  the  General  Strike  is  given.    He  uses  the  very  words 
La  Greve  UniverseUe."    The  very  term  "folding  the 
arms"  (croisant  les  bras),  which  I  have  heard  from 
1.  W.  W.  orators,  occurs  in  the  passage.    The  poet 
appeals  to  society  to  create  a  "great  emptiness" 
round  this  would-be  despot,  by  cutting  him  off  through 
the  general  boycott  from  every  source  of  help.  The  pic- 
ture is  the  more  complete  because  a  man  famous  in 
later  days,  Jules  Favre,  argued  successfully  in  opposi- 
tion by  setting  forth  the  same  practical  difficulties 
that  have  crippled  most  subsequent  application  of  the 
General  Stnke,  e.xcept  for  narrower  and  less  ambitious 
ends. 


l.tj  vj 

H    Iff 


n 


i ' 


hi .' 


m 


-4n 


Ii6 


AMKKICAN   SYVDKALISM 


Revolutionary  sj)irils  for  half  a  irndiry  have  s()ccu- 
latcd  upon  the  strike  and  the  lo^ic  to  whieli  it  leads. 
An  Egyptian  scholar  tells  me  he  eould  make  a  hook 
on  strikes  in  Ancient  Egypt.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest 
weapons  with  which  labor  has  tried  to  defend  itself 
against  demands  or  conditions  no  hmger  felt  to  he 
endurable.  It  still  has  uses  sacred  as  liberty,  but 
never  was  this  str  ^-sword  so  costly  or  so  dangerous; 
never  did  it  require  higher  skill  and  caution  to  wield 
it  wisely  than  it  does  today. 

The  guild-life  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  filled  with 
strikes.  Like  a  shadow  they  followed  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  trade  union  through  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries,  nor  were  they  by  any  means 
confined  to  labor  organizations.  Organization  gave 
them  a  dreaded  power  with  which  employer  and  the 
law  have  to  reckon. 

The  danger  of  the  strike  has  increased  (especially 
for  those  who  use  it)  with  every  tightening  of  the  social 
and  industrial  orj,    .i.^m.' 

Syndicalism  revives  the  strike  and  seeks  a  new 
significance  in  the  logic  of  this  labor  agency.  If  a  little 
strike  brings  some  bit  of  industry  to  a  standstill  and 
a  large  sympathetic  strike  paralyzes  a  lot  of  industries, 
is  it  not  obvious  that  the  "strike-universal"  would 
stop  every  wheel  and  every  productive  activity  in  the 
world's  workshop?  It  would  be  as  effective  as  Tol- 
stoi's cry  to  the  millions  of  his  countrymen— "just 
stop  paying  taxes— all  of  you  together— and  Govern- 
ment is  at  an  end."    If  "all  together  "  they  v/ould  re- 

'  Some  one  should  do  for  industrial  warfare  what  N'orman  Angel 
has  done  for  -var  bet'.vccu  uutiono,  in  'The  Great  liluaiou." 


u^ 


'^^^'M\_.-i:i 


TFir;  Gr:\ERAr.  sTRrKr; 

fus.  an.I  also  refuse  to  enlist  as  soldiers,  ,he  unwi.My 
cr«nk.n,.  mechanism  of  the  State  grows  silent.  ^' 

Ih"  only   trouble  with   the  remedy  is  the  "ill 
toK;  t  or;.    This  has  heen  the  perr.lexfty  of  the  g     -' 
oral  stnke:  l.rst,  to  get  the  ear  of  labor,  and  thct- 
harder  st.l  -to  get  common  and  consenting  action 

Mr.    Etor   "the   high   tribunal  of  our  comrades^ 
^.cneral  strikes"  have  taken  place.    Espcc  alTy  n  o^r 
Amencan  syndicalist  li^-rature,  the  European^r^^in" 
arc  g.vcn  the  glamc.  of  "success"  partly  because  they 
arc  so  far  away  that  almost  any  assertion  may  be 
made  about  them.    For  example,  Mr.  Haywood  calls 
the  French  Commune  of  .87:  "the  greatest  genera 
tr:ke  known  m  modern  times."    He  says  the  rro 
earjat  would  have  won  this  "greatest  general  striL  •' 
f  It  had  not  been  for  France  and  Germany,  which  is 
hke  say.ng  the  South  would  have  beaten  in  the  Civ 
War  If  u  had  not  been  for  the  Xorth.     In  the  Province 
of  Ahcante.  Soam  almost  forty  years  ago,  a  branch  ;f 

t,;T:""T^  ^"^^^'^'  ^  Seneral  strike  with 
ynd  cahst  mtent  not  of  raising  wages  but  expressly 
to  remake  a  society  in  which  free  men  could  live  " 
This  was  rather  ruthlessly  put  down  by  the  troops,  but 
Mr.  Haywood  says  it  "won"  nevertheless 

The  Swedish  strike  and  the  greater  ones  in  Russia 
he  puts  down  among  the  "successes."  In  France  he 
watched  the  recent  syndicalist  strike  on  the  ra^oa 

and  I  tell  it  to  you  in  hopes  that  you  will  spread  the 
good  news  to  your  fellow-workers  and  apply  it  your- 

'  The  General  Strike,  W.  .\.  H;i,  ,•  -od,  p.  9.  ' 


'!*  r 

s  -f,   .f 


'ill 


i';!i 


I     i 


ii8 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


selves  whenever  occasion  demands — namely,  that  of 
making  the  capitalist  sufcr.    Now  there  is  only  one 
way  to  do  that;  that  is,  to  strike  him  in  the  place  where 
he  carries  his  heart  and  soul,  his  center  of  feeling — the 
pocketbook.     And  that  is  what  those  strikers  did. 
They  began  at  once  to  make  the  railroads  lose  money, 
to  make  the  government  lose  money,  to  make  trans- 
portation a  farce  so  far  as  France  was  concerned. 
Befo:  e  I  left  that  country,  on  my  first  visit— and  it 
was  during  the  time  that  the  strike  was  on— there  were 
50,000  tons  of  freight  piled  up  at  Havre,  and  a  propor- 
tionately large  amount  at  every  other  seaport  town. 
This  freight  the  railroaders  would  not  move.    They 
did  not  move  at  first,  and  when  they  did  it  was  in  this 
way:  they  would  load  a  trainload  of  freight  for  Paris 
and  by  some  mistake  it  would  be  billed  through  to 
Lyons,  and  when  the  freight  was  found  at  Lyons, 
instead  of  being  sent  to  the  consignee  at  Paris  it  was 
carried  straight  through  the  tov/n  on  to  Bayonne  or 
Marseilles  or  some  other  iilace— to  any  place  but 
where  it  properly  belonged.    Perishable  freight  was 
taken  out  by  the  trainload  and  sidetracked."    This  is 
thought  to  have  added  value  because  of  its  illustrative 
details.    It  offers  practical  suggestions  that  may  serve 
as  models  to  the  younger  pupils  of  the  I.  W.  W.    The 
event  in  France  was  very  bracing  to  Mr.  Haywood. 
"That,"  he  says,  "is  certainly  one  splendid  example 
of  what  the  general  strike  can  accomplish  for  the 
working  class." 

Much  use  is  made  of  the  strike  on  the  Italian 
railways  as  specially  informing  because  the  em- 
ployes  had    but    one    union   card,— stenographers, 


THE  GENERAL  STRIKE 


119 


tram  dispatchers,  freight  handlers,  train  crews  and 
the  section  crews.  "Every  one  who  works  on  the  rail- 
road is  a  member  of  the  organization."  Here,  no 
separate  union  can  be  kept  at  work  while  others  go 
oui.  No  employer's  contract  with  one  union  can  be 
en;orced  while  other  unions  are  on  strike.  Though 
there  are  "thirty-seven  trades,"  they  can  aU  act  as  a 
single  unit. 

It  was  this  precaution   that   gave   such  advan- 
tage to  his  own  Western  Federation  of  Miners  in  its 
armed  tilts  with  capital.    He  says  of  it:  "Everyone 
employed  in  and  around  the  mines  belongs  to  the 
same  organization;  where,  when  we  went  on  strike 
the  mine  closed  down.     They  thought  that  was  a 
very  excellent  system.     So  the  strike  was  declared 
They  at  once  notified  the  engine  winders,  who  had  a 
separate  contract  with  the  mine  owners,  that  they 
would  not  be  allowed  to  work.    The  engine  winders 
passed  a  resolution  saying  that  they  would  not  work 
The  haulers  took  the  same  position.     No  one  was 
allowed  to  approach  the  mines  to  run  the  machinery 
Well,  the  mine  manager,  like  mine  managers  every- 
where, taking  unto  himself  the  idea  that  the  mines 
belonged  to  him,  said,  'Certainly  the  men  won't  inter- 
fere with  us.    We  will  go  up  and  run  the  machinery  ' 
And  they  took  along  the  office  force.    But  the  miners 
had  a  different  notion  and  they  said,  'You  can  work 
in  the  office,  but  you  can't  run  this  machinery.    That 
isn't  your  work.    If  you  run  that  you  will  be  scabbing- 
and  we  don't  permit  you  to  scab-not  in  this  section 
of  the  country,  now.'"    He  then  states  his  ideal- 
One  great  organizatiun-big  enough  to  take  in  the 


i) 


I: 


r"^ 


i-} 


m 


"M- 


1  .'O 


AMIKICAN   SYNDICALISM 


{ 


-r ,' 


blark  man,  (lu-  while  man;  l)im'iiou)j;h  (o  lakf  in  all  na- 
tionalities an  ()rgani/.ati«)n  that  will  hr  strong  enough 
to  obliterate  state  boundaries,  to  obliterate  national 
boundaries,  and  one  that  will  beeonie  the  great  indus- 
trial force  of  the  working  class  of  the  world." 

This  is  the  ritualistic  formula  from  which  Syndical- 
ism draws  its  highest  moral  allegiance  and  it  is  not  to 
be  met  by  scolling  or  by  stalwart  platitudes.  It  has 
brought  to  the  movement  an  eager  host  of  disciples 
aching  to  give  themselves  utterly  to  some  ennobling 
human  service. 

If  this  together-impulse  were  wisely  nurtured;  if 
it  could  be  freed  from  reckless  and  destructive  sug- 
gestion; if  it  could  be  given  organic  restraint,  its  serv- 
ice would  be  great. 

I  have  watched  for  hours  throngs  of  men  and  women 
under  the  spell  of  this  appeal  to  strike  together.  Packed 
close  were  a  dozen  nationalities  requiring  five  or  six 
interpreters.  Stentorially,  the  thing  had  to  be  said 
and  resaid  until  the  message  was  a  common  possession. 
It  was  always  a  message  which  for  the  hour  obliterated 
every  distinction  of  race.  "There  are  no  Poles, 
no  Greeks,  neither  Jew  nor  Italian  here,  but  only 
brothers''  is  the  unwearying  exhortation. 

There  is  in  this  fusion  an  immediate  ethical  power 
over  generous  spirits,  the  results  of  which  one  meets 
everv-where  in  the  United  States.  I  have  many  times 
asked  young  men  and  women  what  first  caught  their 
interest.  From  the  best  of  them,  it  is  invariably  this— 
''Nothing  has  yet  done  for  labor  at  the  bottom. 
Where  it  is  helpless,  ignorant,  without  speech,  it  has 
been  neglected  and  abused.    It  is  pushed  into  every 


w 


Tin:  gi;ni:kal  strik 


121 


back  alley  and  into  all  work  thai  is  lianii-st  ami  most 
dangerous.  Soricty  lor^^cls  it.  Thi'  trade  unions 
that  should  befriend  it  forget  it  t(«).  Now  conies  the 
I.  VV.  W.  with  the  first  bold  and  brotherly  cry  which 
these  ignored  masses  have  ever  heard." 

With  no  fussy  (lualifications,  this  must  be  granted  to 
the  I.  VV.  W.  No  violen(  e  of  speech  or  deed  can  lion 
orubly  deprive  them  oi  this  stirring  element  in  tlieir  en- 
treaty. As  will  be  shown  later,  it  is  with  this  that  we 
must  learn  to  cooperate  or  fail  miserably  in  social  duty, 
and  in  the  best  uses  of  our  social  ex[)erience. 

It  is  again  only  when  we  recognize  this  saving  cle- 
ment in  the  propaganda  that  we  can  understand  why 
leaders  succeed  in  making  a  kind  of  religion  of  the 
general  strike.  It  is  because  they  connect  it  by  in- 
timate association  with  this  over-arching  thought  of 
a  world  brotherhood.  As  intimately,  too,  they  connect 
it  with  the  world's  waking  desire  to  stop  the  consent- 
ing butcheries  of  war.  Nowhere  can  we  read  more  up- 
lifting passages  against  these  inhumanities  than  in 
syndicalist  literature  and  in  the  possibility  that 
international  brotherhoods  of  labor  may  sometime  so 
universally  lay  down  their  tools  before  the  threat  of 
war,  as  to  startle  the  world  into  some  great  action 
against  the  war  infamy. 

All  this  is  beyond  and  above  criticism,  but  these  fair 
dreams  are  not  peculiar  to  I.  W.  W.  They  are  shared 
by  millions  who  bear  other  names. 

Our  practical  concern  is  also  and  largely  with  things 
prosaic:  with  the  ways  and  means  thr^  ugh  which  we 
are  to  get  possession  of  the  new  and  regenerated 
world.    Hundreds  of  differing  methods  are  thrust  upon 


s 

1      i' 


jv. 


%  .1^ 


■-  J1 


M 


li 


■;;' 


If 


123 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


US  for  choice  and  efore  for  criticism.  It  is  not 
merely  the  general  strike,  it  is  even  more  the  manner 
and  spirit  of  its  application. 

At  a  socialist  congress  in  189 1,  great  enthusiasm  was 
roused  by  a  resolution  against  the  criminal  stupidity 
of  war  as  a  means  of  settling  disputes.  A  Dutch 
clergyman  of  great  influence  was  the  proposer.  "Let 
us  meet  the  first  declaration  of  war  by  a  general 
strike,"  was  its  purport.  Let  the  workers  of  the 
world  answer  to  a  man  by  quietly  laying  down  their 
tools.  Let  them  reply  to  the  great  malefactors,  "We 
work  no  longer  to  waste  labor  and  human  life,  we  will 
only  work  to  save  labor  and  to  lengthen  and  enrich 
life." 

One  may  gladly  believe  that  somewhere  beyond  us, 
a  strike  may  become  holy  in  such  a  cause.  But  it  is 
not  this  with  which  our  average  I.  W.  W.  proposals 
have  to  do.  The  strike  energy  is  urged  to  exercise 
itself  at  the  heart  of  our  economic  activity  for  a 
specific  purpose.  It  is  not  first  for  po'itical  advan- 
tages. It  is  the  exclusive  economic  emphasis  which 
makes  the  general  strike  a  club  for  Anarchists  rather 
than  for  Socialists.  Many  older  Socialists  favored  the 
general  strike  for  political  ends,  while  they  consid- 
ered the  general  economic  strike  ridiculous.  In  the 
pamphlet  just  quoted  the  whole  idea  is  that  of  the 
Syndicalist.  Labor,  it  says,  has  now  actually  got  the 
machinery  of  production  in  its  own  hands.  It  has 
only  to  educate  itself  to  take  it  and  run  it.  "Only 
make  labor  conscious  of  its  possession  and  the  battle 
is  ours."  There  is  a  collection  of  syndicalist  opinions 
on  the  general  strike  that  appeared  in  their  most  ira- 


THE  GENERAL  STRIKE 


123 


[| 


portant  organ,  the  "Mouvement  Socialiste."  '  The 
entire  object  is  to  make  labor  clearly  conscious  of  its 
relation  to  economic  power.  Wage  earners  are  to  be 
made  first  to  believe  it  has  this  power  and  then  to  act 
upon  the  belief.  "The  revolution  is  to  be  first  in  the 
thought,  ami  then  in  act."  To  popularize  these  con- 
ceptions is  the  work  of  their  propaganda.  Throughout 
is  the  "catastrophic  idea." 

As  many  of  the  revolutionary  spirits  in  Europe  and 
among  English  Chartists  in  the  days  before   1848 
were  inflamed  with  hopes  of  some  impending  political 
change,  those  of  this  temper  arc  now  caught  up  by 
beliefs  that  an  economic  revolution  is  at  hand.    The 
centralizing  forces  of  present  day  industry  open  a  new 
vista  to  these  believers.    "We  have  not  now,"  they 
tell  us,  "to  worry  over  the  practical  difficulties  of  the 
'strike-universal.'    We  can  turn  a  partial  strike  into 
one  that  has  unusual  results.    To  stop  transportation 
alone  is  to  stop  a  thousand  other  industries."    "With 
a  motion  of  the  hand,"  says  Pataud,  "I  can  make 
Paris  dark  as  night."    It  is  these  mechanical  possi- 
bilities which  have  transformed  the  tactics  of  "this 
last  great  remedy,"  as  a  little  knowledge  of  chemistry 
may  give  new  terrors  to  sabotage. 

This  has  been  the  strategy  of  recent  strikes  of  this 
character.  But— what  the  believers  do  not  tell  us,  it 
has  also  been  the  source  of  their  failure.  Like  Mr. 
Haywood,  Arnold  Roller's  study  of  the  General 
Strike  turns  an  indiscriminate  mass  of  historic  revolts 

^  These  opinions  are  now  found  in  a  small  volume,   La  Greve 
Ginirale  et  leSocialisme.    See  also  L' Action  Svndiralhtf,  Gr;ilu''lhes 
pp.  27-37- 


i 


*: 


ii 


'ii. 


It;.*  : 


•1 

'  'in 


124 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


•j  :;- 


into  instructive  material  from  which  labor  is  to  learn 
its  lessons.  The  Spanish  strike  in  Alcoy  in  1874  was 
not  for  any  added  pittance  to  the  wage,  but  for  "the 
construction  of  a  free  society."  To  be  sure,  it  was  at 
once  put  down  by  the  troops  but  it  is  a  part  of  the 
great  pageant  of  reconstruction.' 

Our  American  strike  for  eight  hours  in  1886  is 
noticed   because   politics  was  ignored   and   "direct 
action"  substituted.     Oddly  enough,  Roller  couples 
with  this  a  general  strike  in  Belgium  in  1893,  which 
met  with  some  success,  but  it  was  political  in  its  aim. 
Nine  years  later,  Belgian  socialists  rose  again,  but 
leaders  like  Vandervelde  and  Anseele  are  blamed  by 
this  writer  because  they  call  off  the  use  of  revolvers. 
The  strike  of  the  Amsterdam  dockers  in  1903  is  called 
'•a  brilliant  victory,"  because  it  began  with  such  high 
hopes.    Its  final  "failure"  was  owing  to  "social  para- 
sites," a  term  he  fixes  upon  socialists  who  "posted 
proclamations  which  declared  the  strike  off,"  and  thus 
prevented  it  "from  spreading  over  the  whole  country 
and  becoming  general  and  consequently  was  lost." 
The  truth  is  that  a  very  reckless  anarchist  leadership 
frightened  the  socialist  party  into  a  use  of  its  strength 
to  save  a  situation  that  had  become  impossible.    It 
was  necessary  to  reach  the  farm  laborer,  who  proved 
to  be  beyond   the  reach  of  the  anarchist  appeal, 
though  Mr.  Roller  tells  us  in  the  following  words  how 

'  Another  Reneral  strike  to  which  Syndicah'sts  point  is  that  which 
silenced  scores  of  industries  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  in  the 
summer  of  1890.  Few  strikes  iiave  been  followed  by  consequences 
so  momentous.  It  was  revolutionary  in  the  strictest  sense  because  it 
shifted  the  political  powers  of  the  state.  It  has  one  advnntace  over 
Russian,  Spanish,  and  other  obscure  strikes  which  serve  as  syndicalist 
patterns,  because  the  facts  are  much  more  clearly  before  us. 


THE  GENERAL  STRIKE 


12,^ 


they  should  have  proceeded :  "Nothing  is  as  contagious 
and  suggestive  as  rebellion.  The  farm  workers  and 
the  poor  farmers  might  imitate  the  workers  of  the 
cities  and  seize  the  possessions  of  great  land  owners. 
In  recent  years  it  has  happened  quite  frequently  that 
the  striking  workingmen  marched  out  into  the  coun- 
try, in  the  villages  near  the  cities,  enlightened  the 
farmers  and  won  them  by  saying  to  them:  'You  don't 
need  to  pay  any  more  ta.ves  to  the  state,  nor  more 
rents  to  the  landlord,  nor  more  interest  to  the  loan 
sharks,  and  to  the  owners  of  your  mortgages— we  just 
burn  up  all  those  papers.'  " 

These  writers  have  not  even  told  us  a  half  truth 
on  this  subject.  As  exhibitions  of  discontent  and 
organized  protest,  several  of  them  have  led  to  con- 
cessions, but  their  influence  in  this  has  been  precisely 
that  of  any  old-fashioned  strike.  The  dramatic  event 
of  which  so  much  has  been  written  (the  post  oflice 
strike  in  France),  compelled  attention  to  undeniable 
grievances,  but  now  that  the  facts  of  the  "second 
strike"  are  known,  it  is  a  queer  judgment  that  can 
see  in  them  "great  successes."  ^ 

'  In  a  contribution  just  made  to  the  A'rif  York  Call  is  a  wiser  judg- 
ment. "Our  friends  of  the  I.  VV.  \V.  have  a  great  deal  tu  say  about 
the  general  strike.  Now,  I  have  seen  one  general  strike  in  operation. 
That  was  in  Holland  in  1902,  and  I  must  say  that  it  somewhat  re- 
minds me  of  the  story  of  the  man  who  was  night  after  night  disturbed 
by  a  dog  howling  in  front  of  his  house.  One  night,  no  longer  being 
able  to  stand  the  racket,  he  ran  out  in  his  nightshirt,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  was  bitterly  cold,  10  silence  the  dog.  When  he  failed  to 
return  after  an  hour  his  wife  went  out  to  look  for  him.  She  found 
him  lying  full  length  upon  the  snow,  stiff  with  the  cold,  holding  on  to 
the  dog's  tail.  '  What  in  the  world  are  you  trying  to  do.^ '  she  asked 
him.  '.nd  he  answered  in  a  weak  voice;  '  I  am  trying  to  freeze  the 
dog  to  death.'    (Laughter.)    Now,  when  wc  try  to  starve  the  capi- 


1 


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1--    ■-,  ' 


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V  it' 

i'l; 

ri 


126 


AMKRICAN   SYNDICALISM 


it' 


Apart  from  its  political  uses,  the  "general  strike" 
has  been  found  to  be  a  weapon  so  dangerous  to  labor 
that  no  instance  can  be  shown  of  .s  economic  triumph. 
No  one  has  seen  this  so  clearly  as  the  socialist  leaders 
in  every  country.     If  Jaures,  Kautsky,  Vandevelde 
flirt  with  it,  they  make  it  clear  that  its  uses  are 
political.    Able  studies  like  that  by  Henriette  Roland- 
Hoist.'  arc  not  lacking  in  radical  exposition,  but  it  is 
the  i)olitical  possibilities  that  are  given  weight.    These 
leaders  feared  the  very  thing  that  has  happened  in 
Sweden,    France,    and    England    since    the    Swedish 
"general  strike"  in  1909— namely,  Us  increasing  un- 
controllable economic  disorders.'-    Never  was  a  great 
strike  conducted  with  less  lawlessne.is  than  that  in 
Stockholm:  never  one  with  more  restraint  on  the 
part  of  the  State.    So  careful  were  the  strikers,  that 
they  kept  their  men  at  work  at  many  points  (as  light- 
ing and  water  works)  where  the  public  would  too 
keenly  suffer.    The  men  cooperated  with  the  police 
and  against  open  saloon  traffic.    With  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  million  men  on  strike,  the  opportunity 
was  never  fairer  for  a  real  trial  of  this  device.    When 
from  every  source  "the  rich,  the  half-rich  and  their 
hangers-on"  went  heartily  to  work  at  every  sort  of 
job.  the  leaders  said  this  was  to  be  expected.    But  this 
"social  uprising"  against  the  strike  spread  rapidly  be- 

talists  into  submission  they  are  very  likely  to  beat  us  at  the  game. 
They  are  able  to  lay  up  provisions  and  to  buy  up  what  provisions 
there  are  on  the  market,  while  .ve  are  not."  The  writer  expresses  the 
hope  that  workingmen's  cooperation  may  develop  an  economic 
strength  on  which  labor  may  at  last  rely  for  its  own  support. 
'  See  also  General-Strrik  und  Sozialdemokratie  Dresden  --•-•6 
-See  also  Der  Politische  Masscnstreik,  by  Eduard  BemsteiC, 
Breslau,  1905. 


THE  GENFRAL   STRIKE 


127 


yond  the  capitalist  and  bourgeois  classes;  it  appeared 
sullenly  in  the  labor  ranks.  Several  thousand  agricul- 
turists had  been  organized,  but  they  could  not  be  kept 
from  furnishing  food  to  the  public,  because  they  saw 
the  greater  number  of  their  neighbors  (who  were  not 
organized)  making  good  money.  The  man  on  the  land 
would  not  recognize  his  interests  as  one  with  city  labor. 
Even  within  the  city,  as  the  little  shojjs  stop[)ed 
credit  and  the  promised  funds  from  foreign  trade 
unions  proved  pitiably  inadequate,  a  large  labor  con- 
tingent began  to  grumble.  Their  families  were  al- 
ready on  the  verge  of  suffering. 

It  is  known  that  the  industrial  world  generally  lives 
from  hand  to  mouth;  that  all  our  available  focnl  su{)- 
plies  would  vanish  in  a  few  weeks  if  pnjduction  were 
actually  to  stop.  Every  trade  union,  no  matter  how 
imposing  a  figure  its  funds  have  reached,  sees  these 
accumulations  disappear  with  shocking  rapidity  when 
its  main  membership  lays  down  its  tools.  This  lesson 
came  with  gloomy  surprise  in  the  Swedi.sh  city. 

Seven  years  before,  a  purely  political  strike  against 
gross  irregularities  in  the  suffrage  had  left  a  tradition 
of  hope  in  favor  of  the  "general  economic  strike." 
The  analogy  proved  deceptive.  The  "strike,"  more- 
over, became  largely  a  lockout  against  claims  set  up 
by  the  younger  and  more  radical  "socialist  league." 
Syndicalists  may  get  this  crumb  of  comfort  from  the 
failure  of  tliis  strike.  It  seems  to  have  produced  a 
considerable  anti-trade  union  and  anti-political  move- 
ment, because  it  failed.  They  now  have  their  daily 
paper  and  a  fighting  organization. 
There  is  not  a  practical  use  to  which  one  of  these 


i: 


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■'i^ 


»        < 


1 


138 


AMKRICAN   SVNnirAMSM 


IP 


syiulicallst  weapons  ran  lu>  pui  that  does  not  raise 
tlu-  (lUL'stion  of  vii>Irnn-  ami  its  relation  to  the  pro[)- 
agamla.  In  a  puhliration  just  from  tin-  press  '  one 
reads  (p.  :0) :  "  If  the  ruling  elass  of  today  tleeide  as  its 
prototypes  of  the  past  have  deeided,  that  violence  will 
be  'he  arbiter  of  the  (]uestion,  then  we  will  eheerfully 
accept  their  decision  and  meet  them  to  the  best  of  our 
ability  and  we  do  not  fear  the  result."  '■The  I.  VV.  W.," 
it  says,  has  now  "come  to  the  knowledj^e  that  justice, 
liberty,  rights,  &c.  are  but  empty  words,  and  i)ower 
alone  is  real.  Refusing  to  even  try  to  delegate  its  power, 
it  stands  committed  to  the  policy  of  direct  action." 

In   the  following  chapter  we   shall    see   that   its 
culmination  is  in  the  general  strike  which   French 
anarchists  define  as  identical  with  the  social  revolu- 
tion.    We   shall    see    the   theoretic  justification   of 
any  unpleasantness  which  might  follow  direct  action, 
namely,  that  "  the  property  owners  who  own  all  of  us," 
safe  behind  the  mask  of  laws  made  in  their  own  de- 
fense, practice  indirect  action  to  keep  power  from  the 
people.    Because  of  this  exclusion  labor,  it  is  said,  has 
no  choice  but  in  action  that  is  "direct."     The  general 
strike  thus  becomes  in  GritTuehle's  words,  "the  con- 
scious explosion  of  labor's  efiorts  to  free  itself." 2  In  its 
last  expression  it  is  the  taking  possession  of  the  world's 
machinery  for  the  good  of  all— a/<  projit  de  tons. 

This  is  the  revolution.  Is  violence  to  be  expected? 
This,  he  says,  depends  wholly  upon  the  attitude  of  the 
possessors.  The  general  strike  will  be  violent  or  pacific 
according  to  the  amount  of  resistance  to  be  overcome. 

'  On  the  Firing  I.inr.  P  O,  Box  2129.  Sookane.  \V.ish. 
^L Action  Syndicaliite,  p.  32. 


i;-^ 


f'i 


XI 

"DIRFAT  ACTION" 

Nkitiif.r  sal)()t;igo  nor  "dirat  action  "  is  quite  fairly 
cxplaincci  apart  from  rrrtain  economic  beliefs  of  those 
who  now  a(loi)t  them.  The  stru-,'gle  of  labor  against 
capitalism  is  consciously  directed  by  Syndicalism  to 
gain  control  at  the  cciilcrs  and  sources  of  economic 
power.  In  the  most  popular  literature  attention  is 
perpetually  called  to  the  "concentration  of  industrial 
forces''  which  is  believed  to  change  the  whole  method 
of  warfare.  There  is  no  denial  that  the  older  crade 
unions  were  fighting  intelligently  with  '' contracts" 
and  "agreements"*  but  combination  and  the  modern 
trust  arc  said  to  have  wrought  a  revolution  which  re- 
quires other  means. 

When  Monsieur  Pataud  three  years  ago  found  him- 
self at  an  electric  center  of  such  power  in  Paris,  when 
he  realized  that  he  had  onl\  to  "make  a  gesture"  and 
the  great  city  was  at  his  mercy,  he  furnished  one  of 
many  illustrations  of  what  these  new  agencies  may 
enable  syndicalists  to  accomplish.  "We  have."  he 
said,  "to  teach  labor  that  the  lever  to  lift  the  world  is 
already  in  its  hand."  "Make  labor  conscious  of  its 
place  and  power  and  the  battle  is  won."  Behind  this 
belief  is  much  reasoned  explanation  meant  to  justify 
"direct  action."  Capiflism  from  the  begi.nning  has 
known  and  practiced  every  form  of  "indirect  action" 
over  labor.     With  the  help  of  others  in  the  upper 

129 


.:    f 


» 


« 

i 


I  / 


»<o 


AMKRICAN  SYNDK'AI.ISM 


rlasscs,  laws  have  lurn  made  to  keep  economic  forces 
safely  in  their  own  keepin)^.  Hut  modern  orj^'anization 
so  s>>ifts  production  from  one  plant  l(»  another  as  to 
defeat  every  real  purpose  of  the  trade  union.  Hy 
"contracts"  of  dilTerent  dales,  it  can  keep  one  union 
at  work  while  another  is  on  strike. 

"  If  in  a  mine,  the  engineers  and  pumpmen  remain 
faithful  to  such  a  contract,  the  owners  can  prevent 
the  tloodinj,'  of  the  mines  and  thus  hold  out  until  the 
other  workers  are  starved  hack  to  the  joh." 

All  these  immense  resources  of  indirect  action 
capital  controls.  It  has  besides  the  exact  counterpart 
of  every  labor  weapon— lockout,  blacklist,  its  own 
agent  or  "walking  delegate."  If  its  profits  are  in 
danger,  capitalism  can  "ca  canny."  and  restrict  the 
proiluct  on  a  scale  to  make  bricklayers  mad  with 
envy.  But  chief  of  all  is  capital's  stupendous  power 
through  law  and  politics  of  its  own  making.  Through 
the  delays  and  subterfuges  of  legislatures,  through  the 
labored  technique  of  court  decisions,  the  claims  of  the 
worker  are  held  at  bay. 

All  this  is  the  ''indirect  action"  of  those  who  hold 
the  keys  of  economic  power.  Against  these  shrewd  in- 
directions, Syndicalists  will  now  pit  their  own  direct 
strategy. 

Slowly  the  dulled  brain  of  labor  has  discovered  its 
helplessness.  It  has  been  deceived  by  a  succession  of 
petty  concessions  in  wages,  hours  and  conditions,  but 
the  grim  fact  of  its  dependence  antl  insecurity  has 
at  last  grown  clear.  "Direct  action"  is  labor's 
weapon  against  all  the  astute  indirections   of  cap- 


"ItlKlCr  AtHON' 


151 


When  Mr.  Ktlor  and  his  frionils  wore  released  at 
Saleni.  he  ininu-diately  told  the  thronging  crowd  nut 
to  greet  him.  that  they  and  siuh  as  they,  were  his  real 
deliverers.    He  hail  been  rather  eomplimentary  to  the 
court  and  did  not  think  ill  of  it,  but  for  his  freedom, 
he    thanked    the   enthusiasm    and    devotion   of    the 
workers.     These  had  .st-nt  money  and  lawyers  but, 
more  than  all,  had  roused  a  sustaining  pressure  of 
public  opinion  that  was  irresistible.     In  Victor  Cirif- 
fuehle's  exin^sititm  of  syntlicalisl  action  is  found  the 
same  explanation  of  the  freeing  of  Dreyfus.'     "This 
wronged  man  was  not  let  olT  by  the  courts— th.y  would 
have  killed  him  or  banished  him  fast  enough— but  by 
noisy  volcanic  agitation  in  the  street,  press,  parlor — 
even  by  scenesof  rank  violence,"  according  to  the  trade 
union  secretar>-.  this  (.-lectric  atmosphere  was  behind 
the  timid  legalities,  forcing  them  to  take  account  of 
it.    In  the  light  of  this  reasoning.  Syndicalists  now  go 
to  their  new  tasks.    If  it  is  asked,  why  labor  does  i.ot 
also  appeal  to  politics;  why,  with  its  overwhelming 
numbers,  it  does  not  organize  to  elect  its  own  repre- 
sentatives and  thus  create  a  new  legal  order  in  its 
own  favor,  it  has  this  answer:  ''We  have  been  watch- 
ing that  fatuous  game  for  a  generation.     Political 
democracy  and   all  "reformist'  socialism  have   tried 
that  so  long  and  in  -o  many  parts  of  the  world,  that 
we  see  its  useles5ne=s.     The  best  fellows  we  send  to 
legislatures,  to  mayor's  chairs,  or  to  ministries,  lo-^e 
their  heads.    Not  one  of  them  who  breathes  that  at- 
mosphere two  years  but  comes  back  to  us  a  changed 
man.    It  is  a  crooked  road  that  makes  crooked  mf-n 

^  LA'.liun  3ytulicaii:k,  [>.  j 'j. 


I 

4    I 

i 


I 


I.T 


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16 


I. ,  t 


132 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


4 


It 


We  have  found  now  a  road  that  leads  straight  where 
we  want  to  go." 

This  road  is  direct  action.     With  ironical  by-play, 
the  writers  and  speakers  tell  us  that  capitalism  has 
been  their  one  great  teacher  in  the  ways  of  direct  ac- 
tion and  of  sabotage.    "We  have  many  times  used 
chemicals  to  spoil  products,  but  the  private  profit- 
makers  taught  us  everything  we  know,  by  making  us 
partners  in  all  the  lying  processes  of  adulteration. 
In  trying  to  defraud  the  consumer,  they  have  educated 
us.    We  have  had  to  connive  and  help  in  this  whole 
cheating  process,— clothing,   candies,   building   ma- 
terials, paints,  spices,  bread,  soups,  and  a  hundred 
others  in  commonest  use— we  have  been  instructed 
to  the  last  detail,  how  to  cheat  the  consumer  into  the 
belief  that  he  was  getting  one  thing,  when  he  was 
getting  what  he  never  would  have  touched  had  he 
known  the  truth."    'Did  the  soldiers  in  Cuba  eat 
Chicago    'embalmed    beef    when    they    found    it 
out?" 

In  one  of  the  most  recent  I.  W.  W.  pamphlets  are 
the  following  passages  meant  for  instruction.  They 
illustrate  "direct  action"  assuming  forms  scarcely 
distinguished  from  sabotage. ^ 

"A  glance  over  the  yeariy  reports  of  health  and  poor 
food  commissions  and  government  inspectors  will  re- 
veal a  few  facts  to  the  point.  Here  we  see  that  millions 
of  eggs  are  condemned  in  the  store  houses.  The  food 
commissioners  discover  that  there  are  'spots'  No.  i 
and  spots  No.  2  and  'Roses'  in  the  market.  These 
spots  and  roses,  sorted  according  to  the  degree  that 
^  Direct  Action  and  Sabotage,  W.  E.  Trautmann,  p.  ij. 


H 


i^tTbd?-:'    •'i^'^t 


"DIRECT  ACTION" 


n^ 


the  rosening  or  rottening  process  has  reached,  are 
used  mostly  in  bakeries  for  pies  and  cakes,  and  bread. 
The  bakery  worker  knows  it,  is  aware  of  it  since  ever 
bakeshop  slaves  had  to  work  in  dirty,  lilthy,  vermin- 
invested  workshops.    His  job  is  supposed  to  make 
him  immune  against  the  effects  of  perfumes  and  de- 
teriorated flour.    He  has  to  mix  it  in  so  that  every- 
body will  believe  and  think  that  the  bakeshops,  small 
and  large,  are  operated  under  the  most  sanitary  con- 
ditions.   So  these  millions  of  'spots'  are  backed  in 
and  nicely  mixed  by  the  worker  in  the  bakeshop. 
These  cakes  and  pies  are  mostly  sold  to  the  poorer 
people,  their  stomach  is  hardened  anyway  by  the 
adulterated  stuff  they  consume  every  day  without 
knowing  it.    The  effects  of  this  slow  poisoning  process 
are  scarcely  noticed." 

"  But  what  a  howl  would  go  up,— in  fact,  we  heard 
quite  often  the  furore  that  these  statements  of  plain 
facts  have  created,— if  the  bakery  workers  on  a  nice 
day,  all  together,  would  announce  that  the  'spots' 
and  'roses'  are  all  in  abundant  quantity  baked  into 
a  certain  assortment  of  baked  wares.  The  consumer 
is  warned  of  the  possibilities,— who  ever  gets  one  of 
these  'rose  embalmed'  pics  is  himself  only  to  blame 
if  his  stomach  gets  out  of  commission." 

"Every  candy  maker  knows  that  'terra  alba,'  a 
white  clay,  is  used  in  such  proportions  that  it  would 
shock  the  gumchewers  if  they  knew  how  much  of  that 
indigestible  stuff  wanders  into  the  stomachs  of  the 
fair  ladies.  Throwing  in  sugar  and  other  ingredients 
the  candy  worker  is  supposed  to  let  I  lie  machines  work 
the  mixing  to  perfection,  the  worker  tends  the  ma- 


■th 


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i»  I 


.  i  ■ 


iiM 


iir' 


n 


t 


134 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


m 


M 


chine,  he  is  supposed  to  see  nothing  when  that  'terra 
alba '  is  squeezed  through  the  mixer. 

"Are  the  workers  supposed  to  be  the  capitah"sts' 
keepers  and  help  protect  them  against  the  effects  of 
their  quiet,  legitimate  business  affairs?  Terra  alba 
may  get  into  a  heap  of  candy  stuff  in  big  chunks,  un- 
mixed. The  workers  turn  that  instrument  against 
their  own  oppressors. 

"We  have  only  to  take  a  leaf  from  the  employers' 
own  book." 

With  corrosive  irony  one  of  our  I.  W.  W.  papers 
copies  opinions  from  many  of  our  most  distinguished 
citizens  on  the  lawlessness  of  our  various  "trusts" 
and  large  combinations.  "Do  we  need,"  he  asks, 
"any  other  pedagogues?  Do  they  not  show  us  day 
by  day  how  to  get  what  they  want  against  the 
law  or  outside  the  law?"  "The  Government,  great 
lawyers,  and  top-lofty  politicians  in  both  houses  are 
all  sweating  together  to  keep  these  giants  of  industry 
within  the  law  and  can't  do  it.'" 

"All  these  moral  examples  make  our  way  easy." 
"According  to  their  own  account,  their  indirect  action 
is  as  lawless  as  our  direct  action  and  not  half  so  suc- 
cessful in  the  attempts  to  conceal  it." 

In  the  application  of  this  principle,  we  are  never  cer- 
tain whether  sabotage  or  direct  action  is  meant.  Under 
the  heading  of  sabotage,  many  of  the  illustrations  are 
the  e.xact  counterpart  of  what  others  call  "direct  ac- 
tion." Yvetot's  A.  B.  C.  du  Syndicalisme  is  filled 
with  them.  He  defines  "  direct  action  "  as  any  method 
which  drives  the  employer  {d  faire  ceder  le  patron), 
either  by  interest  or  fear,  to  yield  to  labor's  demand. 


.«*  .-iv';.:-- 


'DIRECT  ACTION" 


135 


Because  it  is  a  war  without  truce,  all  "time  con- 
tracts" are  anathema.  When  a  trade  union  journal 
twits  the  I.  W.  W.  with  entering  into  such  agree- 
ments, the  eastern  organ,  Solidarity  admits  that  in  a 
single  instance  this  was  done  by  a  Montana  local. 
When  this  "violation  of  the  principle  and  pracrice  of 
the  I.  W.  W."  was  discovered,  the  local  was  punished 
by  the  withdrawal  of  its  charter. 

There  is  little  significance  in  a  war  policy  so  extreme, 
unless  our  business  system  is  believed  to  be  so  near 
its  end  that  it  can  be  disabled  and  overcome  by 
guerilla  tactics  such  as  these. 

When  a  leader  like  Tom  Mann  in  England  warns 
his  followers  af  :inst  making  any  agreement  except  of 
the  most  temporary  nature  with  the  managers  of 
capital;  when  he  tells  them  that  every  provision  for 
peace  between  the  two  parties  is  a  perpetrated  wrong 
on  labor,  we  see  the  whole  relation  set  squarely  on  a 
war  footing,  and  its  chosen  weapons  are  those  of  war. 
Old-fashioned  strikes  are  to  go  on,  but  with  a  new 
purpose.    They  are  to  be  quick  and  sharp  in  order  to 
save  ammunition.    The  men,  even  when  striking,  are 
"to  keep  at  work,  but  spoil  the  product."    They  are 
"suddenly   to   return    to    their  jobs   before   strike- 
breakers appear,  but  to  drop  work  again  until  the  boss 
is  tired  out."    The  short  strike  is  not  only  to  pester 
the  employer;  it  is,  hke  army  drill,  to  become  the 
school  of  practice  in  prepararion  for  the  coming  gen- 
eral or  universal  strike.    French  syndicalists  actually 
use  the  word  grevicuUure  (strike  culture)  as  if  strikes 
could  be  nursed  and  grown  like  plants  in  a  garden.' 

1  GriSuehles  in  U Action  Syndicaliste  uses  another  figure  that  of  the 
gymnasium  in  which  all  pracUce  is  like  that  of  army  manoeuvers. 


m 


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136 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


Behind  all  this  is  the  assumption  that  the  business 
man  representing  capitalism,  can  be  worried  into 
submission  by  losses  in  the  shop  and  mill.  This  again 
takes  for  granted  two  thmgs:  first,  the  decrepitude 
of  our  business  system  and,  secondly,  the  ability  and 
preparedness  of  labor  (as  defined  by  Syndicalists)  to 
take  over  and  administer  capitalist  production.  The 
saner  among  them  do  not  claim  that  this  can  be  done 
"at  once,"  but  only  as  capitalist  management  is  worn 
out  by  the  unremitting  plague  which  labor  can  inflict 
on  capital  by  refusing  any  longer  to  play  the  capitalist 
game.  "From  now  on,"  says  Tom  Mann,  "we  know 
the  enemy  and  how  to  deal  with  him." 

It  is  flatly  impossible  to  take  with  much  seriousness 
either  of  these  claims.  With  whatever  brutalities 
and  vices  the  present  business  system  is  infected; 
whatever  the  measure  of  its  wrongs  to  labor,  it  is  not 
yet  in  a  state  of  decrepitude,  neither  are  wage  earners, 
without  many  decades  of  training,  within  sight  of 
power  or  fitness  to  manage  the  main  enginery  of 
capitalism,  finance,  transportation,  and  the  great  in- 
dustries. 

It  is  among  things  conceivable  that  two  or  three 
generations  of  discipline,  especially  in  productive  co- 
operation, may  give  labor  essential  mastery  over  this 
enginery.  But  it  must  be  said  with  a  certainty  that 
needs  no  revision,  that  this  discipline  and  capacity 
will  not  be  acquired  through  habits  and  modes  of 
thought  made  by  the  practiced  negations  of  strikes, 
boycotts,  and  sabotage. 

As  this  volume  goes  to  press,  an  Article  on  Direct 
Action  appears  in  The  Independent,  Jan.  9th,  by 


--^yjimJBL. 


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'JSW" 


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"DIRECT  ACTION" 


137 


a  writer   for   the   French  La   Balnille  Syndicalist. 
It  has  the  more  value,  as  it  was  "  passed  upon"  by 
Haywood,  Bohn  and  Ettor— the  two  former  asso- 
ciate editors  on   the  International  Socialist  Review. 
The    writer,    Mr.    Andre    Tridon,   shows    at    once 
how  difficult  it  is  to  distinguish  direct  action  from 
sabotage.    Both  alike  are  schools  of  solemn  and  vig- 
orous instruction  for  the  destruction  of  capitalism. 
Syndicalists,  he  assures  us,  "do  not  recognize  the 
employer's  right  to  live  any  more  than  a  physican 
recognizes  the  right  of  typhoid  bacilli  to  thrive  at  the 
expense  of  a  patient,  the  patient  merely  keeping  alive." 
He  shows  the  importance  of  studying  market  condi- 
tions so  that  the  blow  may  ."all  when  the  employer  is 
"rushed   with  orders."     Two   syndicalist   veterans, 
Pouget  and  Faure,  have  recently  dealt  with  "  technical 
instruction  as  revolution's  handmaid"   which  Mr. 
Tridon  offers  us  for  up-to-date  suggestiveness. 

"The  electrical  industry  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant industries,  as  an  interruption  in  the  current 
means  a  lack  of  Ught  and  power  in  factories;  it  also 
means  a  reduction  in  the  means  of  transportation  and 
a  stoppage  of  the  telegraph  and  telephone  systems. 

"How  can  the  power  be  cut  off?  By  curtaiUng  in 
the  mine  the  output  of  the  coal  necessary  for  feeding 
the  machinery  or  stopping  the  coal  cars  on  their  way 
to  the  electrical  plants.  If  the  fuel  reaches  its  destina- 
tion what  is  simpler  than  to  set  the  pockets  on  fire 
and  have  the  coal  burn  in  the  yards  instead  of  the 
furnaces?  It  is  child's  play  to  put  out  of  work  the 
elevators  and  other  automatic  devices  which  carry 
coal  to  the  fireroom. 


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138 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


"To  put  boilers  out  of  order  use  explosives  or 
silicates  or  a  plain  glass  bottle  which  thrown  on  the 
glowing  coals  hinders  the  combustion  and  clogs  up 
the  smoke  exhausts.  You  can  also  use  acids  to  corrode 
boiler  tubes;  acid  fumes  will  ruin  cylinders  and  piston 
rods.  A  small  quantity  of  some  corrosive  substance, 
a  handful  of  emery  will  be  the  end  of  oil  cups.  When 
it  comes  to  dynamos  or  transformers,  short  circuits 
and  inversions  of  poles  can  be  easily  managed.  Under- 
ground cables  can  be  destroyed  by  fire,  water,  plyers 
or  explosives,  etc.,  etc." 

Here  we  see  the  "saving  power  of  the  revolution" 
transferred  from  the  field  of  politics  and  reform  to  the 
nerve  centers  of  production.  Here  ihe  "system"  is 
to  be  paralyzed  by  the  daring  of  "small,  energetic 
minorities"  through  direct  action.  Never  a  satisfying 
word  is  given  us  as  to  what  these  daring  minorities 
are  to  do  with  the  majorities  after  the  system  is  smit- 
ten. How  are  the  beaten  majorities  to  be  convinced 
and  managed?  In  the  familiar  patois  of  the  Anar- 
chist, we  are  reminded  that  "minorities  are  always  in 
the  right."  This  is  not  Frederick  Douglas,  "One  with 
God  is  a  majority"  but  "A  minority  with  God  is  a 
majority."  ' 

'  Pouget  defines  this  minority  privilege  with  great  precision.  It 
is  to  be  vividly  conscious  of  its  purpose,  because  the  dull  masses  of 
the  majority  have  to  be  spurred  and  whipped  into  line.  So  dull  is 
this  majority  that  it  must  be  treated  as  so  many  "  nullities." 


"I  f 
4 


^"i^msi 


'.-.^r^A 


XII 


1 


SABOTAGE 

As  the  meaning  of  the  word  gentleman  depends 
upon  the  person  who  speaks  it,  sabotage  is  the  most 
doubtful  of  terms  until  we  know  something  of  him 
who  uses  it.  Like  the  term  "direct  action,"  if  one  is 
inclined  to  violence,  sabotage  readily  lends  itself  to 
extreme  measures.  In  the  thick  of  a  desperate  and 
losing  strike,  it  has  many  times  meant  outrageous 
ruin  to  property. 

In  the  early  stage  of  the  discussion  in  Germany,  a 
Syndicalist  saw  in  his  paper  an  account  of  some  slight 
accident  in  the  machinery  of  the  Belfast  Rope  Works, 
whereby  four  thousand  men  were  instantly  left  in 
idleness.    This  came  to  him  like  one  of  those  happy 
accidents  which  has  so  often  led  to  great  scientific 
discoveries.    Just  a  little  break  in  the  machinery  and 
four  thousand  men  must  stop!    A  hint  hke  that  was 
not  to  be  lost.    If  properly  reasoned  out,  it  might  be 
"utilized  for  great  social  purposes."    To  elevate  such 
accidents  into  a  social  policy;  to  instruct  labor  in  the 
art  of  turning  blii.  1  casualties  into  a  planned  on- 
slaught against  capitalism  is  "a  project  to  stir  men's 
blood."    After  this  manner  the  delighted  discoverer 
reasoned  about  this  thrilling  invention.    Like  many 
another  invention,  the  thing  itself  has  far  off  origins. 
From  the  wooden  shoe  of  the  peasant,  sabot,  it  has 
acquired  all  its  mischievous  significance.    A  French 

139 


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140 


AMKRICAN  SYNDICALISM 


!;•; 


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syndicalist  says  it  became  popular  after  striking 
weavers,  in  1834  in  Lyons,  had  smashed  both  glass 
and  machines  with  their  heavy  foot-gear. 

A  university  professor  of  France  has  traced  for  me 
some  further  niceties  in  the  history  of  the  word,  but  for 
our  main  purpose  it  has  no  diilicultics.  In  substance, 
it  is  as  old  as  the  strike  itself.  It  is  a  specialized  form 
of  making  trouble  for  the  employer.  Trade  unions 
have  been  as  familiar  with  its  uses  as  with  any  other 
weapon  in  their  fighting  career.  It  is  the  familiar 
"ca  canny"  of  the  Scotch  which  got  much  advertising 
at  the  strike  of  Glasgow  dockers  in  1889.  They  had 
asked  a  rise  of  wages  which  was  refused.  The  union 
ofBcial  instructed  the  men  in  sabotage.  Farm  laborers 
had  been  brought  in  to  fill  the  places  of  the  strikers. 
"Let  us  go  back  to  the  job,"  said  the  official,  "and  do 
it  exactly  as  the  land  lubbers  do  it.  Those  butter- 
fingers  break  things  and  drop  things  into  the  water 
from  the  docks.  See  to  it,  lads,  that  you  imitate 
them  until  the  masters  learn  their  lesson."  "If 
they  like  that  kind  of  work,  let  them  have  plenty  of 
it." 

It  is  such  as  these  in  great  numbers  and  from  many 
countries  that  I.  W.  W.  instructors  give  us  for  il- 
lustration. A  father  of  Syndicalism,  Emil  Pouget, 
writes  expressly  on  sabotage  partly,  it  seems,  to  assure 
the  outside  public  that  (as  consumer)  it  need  have  no 
fear.    "Sabotage  is  solely  against  the  boss." 

In  recent  strikes  among  baKers,  the  bread  in  its 
early  stages  has  been  spoiled  by  some  unappetizing 
addition,  (like  casior  oil  or  petroleum)  to  the  dough. 
Though  it  cannot  be  eaten,  the  eater  is  reassured  by 


■■:}il^- 


.#S^ii„ 


SABOTAGE 


141 


M.  Pouget  that  in  no  case  is  it  poisoned,— unpalatable, 
yes;  "but  not  injurious  to  health." 

In  California,  during  the  strike  on  the  Harriman 
roads,  a  machinist  who  had  left  his  job  made  the 
same  distinction.  "We  refuse,"  he  .said,  "to  put  the 
public  to  serious  risk.  We  can  manipulate  the  machin- 
ery easy  enough— from  the  engines  to  the  track,  we 
can  put  big  trouble  and  big  expense  onto  the  mana- 
gers." Another  told  me,  "We'll  bleed  that  crowd 
white  before  we  get  through.  We've  forced  them  to 
hire  an  army  of  spies  and  Pinkertons.  They  talk 
cheerful  to  the  public,  but  we'll  take  so  many  millions 
out  of  them  that  they  will  think  more  than  twice 
before  turning  us  down  again."  He  too,  like  M. 
Pouget,  was  sure  that  the  public  was  safe,  but  his 
reasoning  was  even  less  reassuring. 

The  variety  of  these  practices  is  as  diverse  as  modern 
industry  itself.  In  the  life  of  that  famous  Utopian, 
Fourier,  we  are  told  that  his  first  moral  revolt  against 
the  competitive  system  came  to  him  when  he  discov- 
ered that  as  clerk  he  was  expected  to  lie  to  the  pur- 
chaser whenever  necessary.  Of  great  spiritual  sensi- 
tiveness, he  could  not  bring  himself  to  this  and  went 
on  blurting  out  the  truth  about  the  various  wares  until 
the  infuriated  employer  turned  him  from  the  shop. 

I  have  sometimes  heard  this  delicate  cruelty  of  exact 
truth  telling  recommended  by  the  I.  W.  W.  as  one  of 
the  most  perfected  forms  of  sabotage  for  clerks  and 
retail  vendors  generally.  "Get  together,  study  the 
foods,  spices,  candies,  and  every  adulterated  product. 
Study  the  weights  and  measures,  and  all  of  you  tell 
the  exact  truth  to  every  customer." 


V 


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142 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


This  is  near  akin  to  something  fr.r  more  widely  prac- 
ticed. For  railway  employees  to  submit  an  exact 
obedience  to  every  rule  under  which  they  work,  is  to 
create  instant  havoc  on  that  road.  A  train  is  not 
started  on  schedule  tick  while  two  or  three  old  ladies 
are  in  the  act  of  climbing  onto  the  car.  There  has 
always  to  be  the  "margin  of  discretion"  in  applying 
rules.  French  and  Italian  Syndicalists  brought  ut- 
most confusion  to  the  railroads  by  their  "conspiracy 
of  literal  obedience."  It  is  one  of  the  French  phrases, 
"Study  the  time,  the  condition  of  trade,  the  technique 
of  the  machinery.  Wherever  you  find  the  most 
sensitive  nerve — attack  it  with  acute  refinement  In 
a  French  restaurant  an  objectionable  employer  was 
driven  half  insane  on  finding  that  his  waiters  were 
serving  guests,  as  publicly  advertised,  "with  per- 
fectly fresh  foods."  They  were  practicing  sabotage 
by  dropping  out  all  the  traditional  ingenuities  through 
which  half-spoiled  material  could  be  given  artistic 
satisfaction  to  the  eater.  The  cutters  in  a  tailors' 
strike  won  their  contest  by  preparing  garments  up  to 
the  standard  promised  by  the  proprietor,  but  with  a 
finished  excellence  which  left  him  with  a  deficit. 

In  Bordeaux  gas  works,  scabs  were  kept  from  the 
establishment  by  the  strikers'  following  the  contract 
and  remaining  at  their  posts,  but  doing  their  work 
so  as  to  shower  the  managers  with  public  com- 
plaint. 

If  the  resources  of  sabotage  are  made  a  study;  if  all 
its  possibilities  are  investigated  and  the  results  turned 
into  suggestive  material  for  general  use,  it  may  become 
a  rare  and  exciting  sport.    It  is  as  easy  on  the  farm  as 


^<T#"-. 


SABOTAGE 


M3 


on  the  railroad.    These  finer  points  of  the  game  have 
thus  far  had  little  use  in  the  United  States.    They 
only  appear  in  literary  form  as  hints  for  talents  and 
occasions  that  may  in  time  arise.    That  we  may  some 
time  have  a  "university  of  the  proletariat"  for  still 
wider  instruction  appears  in  a  report  published  in 
Paris  two  years  ago,  in  which  definite  instruction  is 
given  as  to  the  various  forms  of  sabotage  and  their 
uses  in  different  industries.     Both  authors  of  this 
document   are    confessed   Anarchists,   one  of  them 
having  resigned  from  the  socialist  section  to  which 
he  had  belonged.     As  long  as  machinery  is  owned 
by  employers,  says  the  report,    "it  is  the  enemy 
of  the  man  who  operates  it.    Its  private  possession 
must  be  made  so  vexatious  and  troublesome  that  no 
man  will  care  to  own  it.    'Then  labor  will  come  by  its 
own.'     That  sabotage  can  be  carried  on   without 
money  is  thought  to  be  one  of  its  chief  advantages. 
This  propaganda  is  '  the  great  university  of  the  pro- 
letariat.' " 

The  talents  developed  thus  far  by  our  I.  W.  W. 
have  not  shown  themselves  in  "acute  refinements." 
In  northwestern  saw  mills  timber  lengths  were 
changed  so  that  only  misfits  were  left  for  the  planned 
structure.  Logs  were  so  laid  that  in  sawing  half  the 
value  was  lost.  Nails  were  so  driven  as  to  damage  the 
saw  and  in  the  hauling  from  the  woods,  teams,  har- 
nesses and  tools  were  "skilfully  injured." 

A  group  of  our  Italian  excavators  met  a  cut  in  their 
wages  by  straightway  taking  their  shovels  to  a  ma- 
chine which  clipped  from  the  blade  enough  of  its  sur- 
face to  correspond  to  the  cut  in  wages.    They  sent  in 


i       =  L 

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AMI  Kl(  A\    SYNDU  AI.ISM 


thoir  oxpl.inaliiur  "Loss  pay.  loss  sb  >\tI."  A  gixxl 
translation  ot  .}  mairntisf  />.//<•  tttiiuuiis  traviiil. 

'Vho  ailvanta_m-  whiih  an-  stij>|H>std  Id  follow  a 
shrtwil  usr  of  saK>tago  arc  that  it  cnahk-s  the  men  to 
hoKl  thoir  job.  ovon  vvhilo  half  nifMing  it.  Tho  risk 
anil  wasto  oi  long  strikos  havo  boon  loarnotl.  Saliotago, 
"it  n\a«lo  an  intollootual  process. "  ni.»y  striko  at  tho 
omployor  a  swiftor  an»l  nioro  doadly  blow  ami  losson 
tho  ohanoos  ol  -» abbing. 

In  orilor  Xo  >ho\v  tho  easy  rosonroos  of  sabotapo. 
Kniilo  Poiigot  rathor  vauntingly  puts  down  a  list  of 
raro  aooomplishtnonts  during  only  twenty  days  of 
Jitly.  loio.  when  tolograph  and  tolophono  linos  wore 
out  to  tho  number  of  705.  Instruction  is  given  to  show 
what  can  bo  diMio  with  "only  two  cents'  worth  of 
chemicals  to  s^xnl  machine  prodvicts." 

Vho  TcchfiU:,!  World  roixnts  an  I.  W.  W.  strike 
in  British  Columbia  that  shows  the  strategy  among 
highly  p.dd  labor.  In  the  otTicial  statement  of  the 
gencr.il  socretarA-.  it  is  laid  down  as  a  principle  of 
action  that  only  by  the  exercise  of  ix>wer  can  the 
slightest  concession  be  won  from  capital.'  During 
strikes,  he  says: 

•  The  works  are  closely  picketed  and  cveiy  effort 
made  to  keep  the  employers  from  getting  workers  into 
the  shops.  All  supplies  are  cut  otT  from  strike  bound 
shops.  All  shipments  are  refused  or  missent,  delayed 
and  lo5t  if  p^,|^^ible.  Strike  breakers  are  also  isolated 
to  the  f'ull  extent  of  the  power  of  the  organization.  In- 
terierence  by  the  government  is  resented  by  open 
Nnolaiion  of  the  government's  orders,  going  to  jail  en 

1/.  W.W.a-.'.ior:;,  i.    17. 


r:r^   .2C 


SAHOTAGK 


»4S 


m/ivr,  causiriR  expense  to  the  taxpayers — which  arc 
hut  anotlu-r  name  for  the  employinK  cLss. 

"  In  short,  the  I.  \V.  W.  advocates  the  use  of  militant 
'direct  ution'  tactics  U)  the  full  extent  of  our  power 
to  make  gooil." 

The  ai)ove  extract  rewards  study.  It  is  not  a  prod- 
uct of  soap-box  oratory.  It  is  coolly  written  down 
in  the  otVicial  history.  Government  '"interference"' 
is  to  be  met  by  "oj)cn  violation."  The  general  body 
of  taxpayers  is  identified  with  the  employing  class, 
thus  turning  into  an  enemy  of  labor,  all  those  who 
support  the  government  by  paying  taxes.  Against 
these,  militant  tlirect  action  is  to  be  used  upon  the 
one  principle,  the  degree  of  strategic  power  pos- 
sessed by  strikers. 

Such  peculiarity  as  there  is  in  syndicalist  teaching 
on  this  point  is  to  make  it  an  object  of  instruction, 
to  make  it  more  u'liversal,  more  conscious  and  more 
ingeniously  adapted  to  its  end. 

A  foreman  in  a  textile  mill  told  me  the  racy  details 
of  sabotage  as  practiced  in  his  own  department.  Its 
cunning  effectiveness  was  such,  in  his  opinion,  that 
only  concerted  action  and  a  good  deal  of  tutoring  by 
the  more  clever  men  could  account  for  the  result.  The 
I.  W.  \W.  journals  have  an  ample  stock  of  informing 
suggestions  to  show  the  high  values  of  this  invention. 
A  little  half-heartedly  they  insist  that  violence  is 
stupid,  because  the  objects  of  sabotage  can  be  reached 
with  more  subtle  effectiveness  without  it.  "If  a 
teamster  scabs, — don't  hit  him,  but  just  hide  the  axle 
nuts  of  his  wagon  and  put  some  artistic  cuts  in  his 
harnesses."     Much  is  said  of  sabotage  as  ''a  labor- 


.  ♦  ! 


rj 


■I 


146 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


t 


If:' 
*  ■'. 

r'  : 


saving  device."  "Wc  make  the  machinery  of  produc- 
tion go  on  strike,  instead  of  ourselves.  If  we  strike 
too,  that  is  incidental." 

In  one  of  the  severer  struggles  in  western  Canada 
an  I.  W.  W.  reporter  states  the  wages  of  the  teamsters 
at  three  dollars  a  day  with  board,  and  the  common 
shoveler  at  two  seventy-five.  These  men  disliked 
piece  work  and  the  required  purchase  of  dynamite 
from  the  boss.  As  it  was  "contrary  to  principles," 
more  than  700  of  them  "go  out  at  the  drop  of  the 
hat,"  without  making  any  demands  whatever.  Their 
relations  once  severed,  they  act  in  the  spirit  of  Syn- 
dicalists trained  for  their  task.  Then  came  formal 
presentation  of  grievances;  here  and  there,  shorter 
working  time,  changes  in  the  contract  system,  and 
better  fare  at  table.  Word  went  out  that  no  violence 
would  be  permitted  by  the  strikers;  they  even  or- 
ganized their  own  police.  They  took  severe  meas- 
ures against  the  too  free  sale  of  liquor  in  the  saloons — 
"only  one  drink  a  day."  The  strike-breakers  hurried 
on  from  the  coast  were  met  and  persuaded  to  return. 
I.  W.  W.  men  put  in  jail  for  "unlawful  assembly" 
were  paid  by  the  strikers  one  dollar  daily  "for  the 
common  good."  "Let  a  few  hundred  of  us  go  to  jail," 
it  was  said,  "and  see  if  the  province  likes  the  expense." 
The  forms  of  sabotage  were  discussed.  It  was  easy  to 
have  "accidental  fall  of  rocks  or  embankments."  If 
strike-breakers  got  through,  they  were  to  be  hospitably 
met  with  hot  coffee.  "There  may  be  something  in 
that  coffee — a  pause — sugar  of  course."  The  striker 
chosen  to  instruct  the  reporter  says,  "Before  they  get 
through,  they  will  find  it  cheaper  to  make  terms  with 


SABOTAGE 


M7 


US  than  fight  US.    *I  Won't  Works' they  callus.   They 
are  right.    'I  Won't  Works'  for  capital:' 

He  then  contmues:  "We  are  striking  to  educate  the 
workers  to  their  power— to  show  them  if  they  unite  that 
they  can  paralyze  every  wheel  of  industry  and  compel 
the  expropriation  of  all  industry  from  that  side  of  the 
line  to  this  side  of  the  line ;  from  capital  to  labor.  That 
is  where  our  organization  differs  from  all  other  organiza- 
tions. You  think  we  are  beaten?  We  will  go  back  to 
work  and  accumulate  funds;  and  strike  yet  again, 
till  the  public  finds  it  cheaper  for  us  to  operate  all 
industry  than  to  tolerate  the  recurring  deadlock.  We 
are  striking  solely  to  overthrow  the  capital  system. 
FJist,  in  England,  it  was  the  railways.  Then,  it  was 
the  coal  mines.  Now,  it  is  the  docks.  Here  we  have 
begun  operations  because  labor  is  so  scarce  that  we 
can  show  our  power.  We  have  tied  up  one  road  for 
two  months.  Next  time,  we'll  tie  up  three  roads  for 
three  months;  and  so  we'll  go  on  and  educate  and 
educate  and  educate  labor  to  a  knowledge  of  its  own 
strength  and  solidarity  till  it  realizes  it  has  only  to 
unite  in  order  to  take  over  all  industry  and  overthrow 
the  capital  system." 

That  Canada  has  for  this  very  kind  of  disagreement, 
the  best  of  all  Arbitration  Acts,  was  well  known  to  the 
men.  They  even  discussed  it,  but  no  appeal  to  it  was 
allowed,  as  the  strikers  were  "not  out  to  patch 
things  up."  "We  are  out  against  the  wage  -Astem 
itself." 

The  truth  about  sabotage  is  that  its  essence  is  de- 
struction. All  the  dulcet  phrases  about  "  mere  passive 
resistance,"  "only  fold  the  arms  or  put  your  hands 


m 


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148 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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in  your  pockets  and  keep  them  there,"  or,  as  I  heard 
a  speaker  say,  "Why,  you've  nothing  to  do  but  just 
stand  round  and  look  sweet,"  -all  this  does  not  hide 
the  fact  that  the  machinery  of  production  is  stopped 
and  to  that  extent  protluct  (wealth)  is  destroyed. 
"Quietly  change  the  address  on  freight  cars  filled 
with  perishable  foods,  so  they  shall  go  one  or  two 
hundred  miles  south  instead  of  north  to  Paris,  and 
then  get  side-tracked  a  few  days  more,"  was  one 
among  many  guiding  hints  to  the  railway  strikers.  It 
sounds  as  gentle  as  a  friendly  salute  or  as  the  pretty 
French  name,  la  grcvc  pcrlcc,^  for  a  strike  that  may  be 
ugly  in  the  extreme. 

With  time,  the  sabotier  has,  like  the  rest  of  us, 
gained  civility  and  intelligence.  He  does  not  burn  and 
wreck  every  new  machine  in  sight  like  his  English 
brothers  seventy  years  ago,  or  Russian  peasants  a 
generation  later.  But  his  gain  in  humor  and  affability 
does  not  imply  that  he  is  one  whit  less  a  destroyer 
that  his  ruthless  forerunner. 

We  have  not  forgotten  the  advice  of  the  "  Grand 
Master  "  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  that  every  woik- 
man  after  drinking  smash  his  beer  bottle.  How  much 
work  it  would  give  to  labor!  How  many  unemployed 
could  at  once  be  set  to  work! 

Yes,  but  why  stop  at  beer  bottles  ?  Why  not  also 
break  milk  bottles,  tea  cups,  plates  and  then,  when 
the  meal  is  finished,  break  up  the  table  and  chairs. 


'  Of  this  term  la  grJve  perl^,  Professor  Ernest  Dimnet  writes  me, 
"  It  is  railway  slang.  For  several  months  the  men  just  changed  the 
addresses  stuck  on  the  cars,  so  they  (the  cars)  were  as  hard  to  find  ai 
pearls  that  had  dropped  oS  the  string." 


SABOTAGE 


149 


destroy  the  carpet,  and  finally  the  house  ?— One  and 
all— it  would  "  make  work." 

On  the  same  witless  level  is  this  whole  annihilating 
scheme,  recommended  and  urged  upon  crowds  and 
individuals  whose  action  is  beyond  control. 

Fortunately,  a  large  part  of  the  labor  world 
has  learned  that  the  mere  smashing  of  machines 
is  only  heady  stupidity.  The  labor  of  the  future  will 
learn  that  sabotage  scl  up  as  a  principle,  or  loosely  ad- 
vised, is  an  economic  silliness  because  it  is  destructive. 
It  means  a  deliberated  lessening  of  products— a  process 
in  its  aftermath  always  deadlier  to  the  weak  than  to 
the  strong.  It  has  a  grim  pathos  to  hear  the  strong- 
est man  in  our  I.  \V.  \V.  crusade  congratulating  a  great 
and  enraptured  audience  upon  the  successes  of  the 
latest  English  strike.  It  was  bungled  from  the  start 
and  marked  by  horrors  of  suffering  that  made  strong 
men  sick  to  look  u{X)n. 

No  strike  ever  "succeeded"  that  was  not  encour- 
aged and  directed  by  some  measure  of  practical  wis- 
dom. A  strike,  like  any  other  rude  force,  is  so  much 
power  applied  for  a  specific  object.  It  does  not  "  suc- 
ceed" because  it  is  a  strike.  If  it  succeeds,  it  is  only 
by  \irtue  of  shrewd  and  skilful  adaptation  to  time,  to 
place,  and  to  conditions. 

In  many  ways  sabotage  has  more  hazards— more 
risks  01  failure— because  it  is  secret,  underhand,  and 
so  easily  beyond  all  control  by  those  who  recommend 
it.  We  are  told  it  is  "so  easy."  ''so  noiseless,"  "so 
shtltered.  "  '*:'cv.  and  so  is  an  administered  poison 
easy,  noiseless,  sheltered,  but  il  i-  not  necessarily 
good    sense   to   recommend   its   indiscriminate    use. 


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AMKRICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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4 


Sabol;tgo  is  not  unlike  a  poison  shot  into  an  organism, 
but  it  is  an  organism  of  which  ovory  hiboring  man  and 
woman  is  vitally  a  part.  It  is  a  poison  that  will  never 
roach  capital  as  something  wholly  separate  from 
labor.  The  many  who  are  nearest  to  the  margin  of 
want  will  sutler,  Iirst  and  in  the  end,  most  poign- 
antly. 

Very  perfectly  the  wiser  men  in  the  socialist  move- 
ment have  learneil  this  lesson.  It  may  have  lacked 
practical  tact,  that  a  few  months  ago,  the  socialist 
otVuials  should  vote  expulsion  from  the  party  of  all 
those  who  preached  sabotage.  This  may  have  made 
"a  too  irritating  issue"  at  the  moment.  But  the  kind 
of  miscellaneous  advocacy  given  to  sabotage  in  this 
country  deserves  all  that  was  meant  by  that  action. 
Through  its  trade  unions  and  through  socialistic  or- 
ganization, labor  has  got  at  last  quite  organic  strength 
enough  to  choose  and  hold  fast  to  constructive 
plans.  Every  hour  devoted  to  destruction  is  a  weak- 
ening of  its  cause.  This  criticism  refers  solely  to  sabot- 
age as  actually  taught  and  commended.  So  long  as 
the  fact  of  warfare  in  our  industrial  system  continue^, 
the  strike,  boycott,  and  sabotage  w-ill  have  a  place  in 
spite  of  the  waste  and  disorder  that  follows.  All  of 
us  together  must  endure  them,  as  war  is  suflfered,  until 
we  learn  the  sanity  and  moral  self-restraint  to  sub- 
stitute enlightened  and  constructive  measures  in  our 
human  intercourse. 

The  incurable  \-ice  of  sabotage  is  in  the  kind  cf 
general  doctrinal  emphasis  given  it.  Its  logic  is  that 
of  the  class-war  elevated  into  a  principle  and  recom- 
mended to  excited  crowds.    Its  practical  dangers  are 


SABOTAGE 


I'll 


in  the  immediate  consequences  which  the  heated  im- 
agination is  sure  to  draw  from  such  advice. 

It  is  not  alone  Socialists  of  penetration  and  matur- 
ity who  see  this,  but  SyndicaHsts  themselves  lift 
a  warning  linger.  Lagardelle  is  now  reported  by 
Kautsky  to  be  dismayed  at  the  exhaustion  which  this 
destructive  passion  has  brought  with  it.  The  possi- 
bilities of  the  strike  and  sabotage  (as  one  weapon  in  its 
armory)  arc  as  sacred  to  him  as  ever,  but  he  sees  the 
havoc  of  any  general  popularizing  of  such  a  force. 
This  vigorous  propagandist  of  syndicaUsm  said  in 
1907: 

"If  socialism  consists  wholly  of  the  class  struggle, 
socialism  is  as  a  matter  of  fact  entirely  contained 
within  s\Tidicahsm.  for  outside  of  syndicalism  there 
is  no  class  struggle."" 

He  objects  to  the  Anarchists  because  they  make 
too  light  of  the  class  struggle  or  are  merely  muddle- 
headed  about  it.  It  is  to  him  the  greatness  of  Syn- 
dicalism that  it  has  shown  the  proletariat  to  be  the 
only  section  of  society  to  which  we  may  look  for  sal- 
vation. Nothing  is  to  be  hoped  from  political  democ- 
racy, because  it  is  engaged  in  the  ignoble  trickery  of 
binding  the  classes  closer  together.  The  break,  he 
i-ays.  must  be  absolute.  Then  and  then  only  can  we 
hope  that  "not  one  thing  traditionally  esteemed  v.ill  sur- 
vive destruction." 

The  disastrous  folly  of  a  teaching  like  this  h  the 
more  amazing  when  we  recall  what  it  is  that  Syndical- 
ism sets  before  us.  It  is  •'  to  capture  the  machinery  of 
production. ■■  From  the  inside,  where  the  milHons 
are  toiling,  they  are  to  "take  possession''  of  trans- 


M^ 


Tii 


c  '; 


i 


«S2 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


11  ! 


^'^ 


portation,  mines,  and  factories;  but  they  are  to  do 
this,  as  almost  every  leader  says,  by  showing  them- 
selves competent  for  the  task.  They  must  "prove" 
their  possession  of  skilled  capacities  equal  to  the 
great  undertaking.  This  raises  the  question — is  it 
then  possible  that  a  long  and  wide  practice  in  de- 
stroying things  is  a  part  of  such  education?  If  sabot- 
age is  to  go  on  among  the  masses  until  they  "take 
over"  the  great  machinery,  what  habits  meantime  will 
sabotage  develop?  Can  they  practice  it  for  some 
decades  as  a  fitting  preparation  for  administrative 
tasks  as  stupendous  as  they  are  delicate?  The  ques- 
tion requires  no  answer.  To  give  sabotage  the  prom- 
inence found  in  I.  W.  W.  opinion  is  only  a  little  less 
intelligent  than  was  the  attempt  of  European  Anarch- 
ists, a  few  years  before  the  appearance  of  Syndicalism, 
to  beat  the  capitalist  system  by  a  large  scheme  of 
creating  and  circulating  counterfeit  money  which  be- 
gan at  once  to  circulate  among  the  poorest  and 
stupidest  people.  If  capitalism  is  to  be  overthrown, 
it  is  not  by  crippling  negations  and  mere  mischief 
making.  If  it  is  to  be  conquered,  it  must  be  mainly  by 
the  slow  creation  of  substitutes  that  have  higher  busi- 
ness efficiency. 

The  issues  raised  by  sabotage  have  furnished  con- 
tinuous occasion  for  the  sharpest  differences  in  opinion, 
not  only  among  Socialists  but  within  the  ranks  of 
Syndicalism.' 


*  Already  the  organs  of  the  I.  W.  \V.  are  at  swords'  points  with  the 
acknowledged  leaders  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States.  Any  reader 
curious  to  follow  this  inner  feud  has  only  to  subscribe  for  six  month: 
to  a  paper  like  the  Xalionaliit  Socialist  and  tu  Solidarity,  the  I.  W.  W. 


fiv  'r'^^^im 


fi#^ 


.5»i..:i 


■milr'i 


^r\'.s^:-€ 


^R^i 


SABOTAGE 


153 


The  fine  technically  trained  intelligence  of  Sorel 
showed  a  wholesome  fear  of  sabotage  and  cried  out 
lustily  agamst  it,  as  does  also  Edouard  Berth.    H.  G. 
Wells  is  the  easy  peer  of  M.  Sorel.    He  has  M.  Sorel's 
dislike  for  Fabian  politics,  but  these  features  of  Syn- 
dicalism offer  him  no  possible  plan  of  social  develop- 
ment.   Itistohimmerely '* a  spirit  of  conflict."    It  is 
"the  cheap  labor  panacea  to  which  the  more  passion- 
ate and  less  mtelligent  portion  of  the  younger  workers 
drift."    It  is  the  "  tawdrification  of  the  trade  union- 
ism" and  even  its  dream  is  "an  impossible  social 
fragmentation:'    Kautsky  and  the  uncompromising 
Guesde  who  despises  parliamentary  action,  are  little 
less  severe.    I  do  not  bring  against  the  I.  W.  W.  the 
hostUe  opinions  of  the  Webbs,  Keir  Hardy,  Mac- 
Donald  and  German  leaders.    Such  opposition  is  to 
be  expected.     It  is  more  serious  when  men  as  un- 
trammeled  as  Sorel,  Guesde,  Bax  and  Wells  rise  up 
against  it.  These  writers,  one  and  all,  look  upon  sabot- 
age as  a  clumsily  out-of-date  and  reactionary  device. 

sheet  in  XewcasUe,  Pa.  Even  Mr.  Debs  is  attacked  for  raising  doubts 
about  sabotage.  Last  week  I  cut  from  an  I.  W.  W.  paper  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"Sabotage  repels  the  .\merican  worker,"  says  Debs.  That  is  not 
true.  The  .\merican  worker  bus  used  the  methods  of  the  sabotier 
right  along.  I  witnessed  as  slick  a  piece  of  sabotage  last  wc-ek  as  was 
ever  pulled  ofiF.  Done  right  under  the  boss's  eyes  when  he  endeavored 
to  speed  the  machines  up.  He  did  not  recognize  it  as  such,  but  he 
lowered  the  speed.  Indiflerent  work  is  a  form  of  sabotage.  The 
•American  worker  inclines  to  it  when  disposed  to  resent  his  treatment. 

"The  checker  in  freight  houses,  to  my  knowledge,  often  puts  a 
package  in  the  wrong  car  to  avenge  a  fancied  wrong.  This  is  sabotage. 
I  have  seen  m  mining  camps  soap  put  in  the  blacksmith's  tub  to  pre- 
vent a  good  temper  being  secured  on  the  steel." 


i1 


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154 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


With  Still  more  severity  W.  J.  Ghent  says  in  the 
SociaUst  National  Organ:  "To  preach  violence  and 
sabotage  to  the  working  class  is  to  preach  not  a 
working-class  morality,  not  a  socialist  morality,  but 
a  slave  morality.  It  is  the  morality  of  Roman  slaves 
in  the  days  of  the  empire.  By  lying,  deceit,  craft, 
and  theft  they  sought  to  lessen  the  evils  of  their  lot. 
They  did  not  heroically  strive  for  emancipation.  They 
acquiesced  in  and  compromised  with  slavery,  and 
sought  in  cowardly  ways  only  to  mitigate  its  evils. 
They  did  not,  in  any  general  sense,  mend  their  lot. 
The  shrewd  and  adroit  slave  sometimes  lightened  his 
own  burdens,  and  sometimes  the  burdens  of  a  small 
group.  But  the  slave  system  as  a  whole  was  not 
affected  by  this  form  of  resistance— if  it  may  be  called 
by  that  term.  Nor  will  the  tenure  of  the  capitalist 
system  be  affected  by  a  like  policy."  * 

There  are  finally  collective  forms  of  sabotage  very 
popular  against  public  and  legal  authorities.  The 
last  one  of  many  (Oct.  i,  1912)  comes  from  the  general 
secretary  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  calling  for  help  to  aid  the 

»Mr.  Robert  Hunter  has  just  quoted  Professor  Herve  (Call, 
Jan.  10,)  as  the  "most  daring  and  brilliant  of  all  advocates  of  direct 
action  and  sabotage."  This  Syndicalist  wrote  of  the  recent  German 
Socialist  Victory  as  follows:  "We  have,  by  means  of  our  internal  dis- 
sensions, our  sterile  discussions  of  personalities,  developed  a  party 
on  the  one  hand  and  a  general  federation  of  labor  on  the  other,  equally 
stagnant,  with  equally  ridiculous  inefficiency,  treasuries  without 
money,  journals  without  readers,  and  have  engendered  demoraliza- 
tion, skepticism  and  disgust. 

"In  truth,  I  begin  to  ask  myself  if  with  our  great  phrases  of  insur- 
rection, direct  action,  sabotage,  and  'chasing  the  foxes,'  we  are  not, 
after  all,  from  a  revolutionary  iwiul  of  view,  but  little  children  beside 
the  Socialist  voters  of  Germany." 


''^^'^^^W^'^'^m-'^'f'^^^. 


'm^ 


SABOTAGE 


ISS 


suflfering  strikers  in  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.  The  local  jail 
is  already  well-filled,  but  this  leading  official  of  the 
order  asks  that  it  be  straightway  so  choked  that  an- 
other prison  must  be  built.  He  does  not  ask  his  own 
membership  for  anything  so  commonplace  as  money, 
but  urges  all  who  can,  to  journey  thither  for  the  sake 
of  being  jailed.  As  they  said  in  Fresno,  California, 
"The  town  won't  mind  a  dozen  or  two  in  jail,  but  if 
they  have  to  provide  for  several  hundred  of  us,  they'll 
get  sick."  Mr.  St.  John  wants  to  make  town  author- 
ities in  Little  Falls  sick  by  overloading  and  tiring  out 
every  protective  and  legal  agency. 

This  is  the  round-about  method  by  sabotage  of  dis- 
couraging and  discrediting  our  present  social  mechan- 
ism. It  is  evenly  on  par  with  putting  castor  oil  in  bread, 
sifting  sand  into  delicate  machinery,  or  laming  the 
horses  of  scab  teamsters  by  setting  the  shoe  on  the  hoof 
so  that  the  nail  reaches  the  soft  part  of  the  foot. 

Precisely  this  is  what  the  general  secretary  asks  for 
the  still  more  delicate  machinery  of  society.  It  is  to 
be  clogged  and  rendered  useless.  A  mill  foreman  told 
me  he  found  the  I.  W.  W.  in  one  of  his  rooms  using 
the  knee  against  the  parts  of  a  machine  which  he  said 
was  "delicate  as  a  baby."  " It  ruined  the  product  for 
an  entire  day  because  the  damage  could  not  be  seen 
till  the  next  morning."  "It  was  so  easily  done,"  he 
said,  "that  I  never  could  prove  to  others  that  any  one 
man  did  it."  "Any  one  of  them  could  spoil  thirty  dol- 
lars' worth  of  product  in  two  seconds,"  was  his  esti- 
mate. 

This  direct  annihilation  of  property  was  not  more 
thorough  than  filling  jails  in  twenty  different  towns 


w^mmw^>mM'm^t 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


and  cities.  I  tried  once  to  reckon  up  the  cost  of  one 
of  these  escapades  in  which  nearly  200  men  must  have 
lost  more  than  100,000  days'  earnings.  There  was 
not  a  baker's  dozen  of  them  who  could  not  have 
had  work  in  that  community,  if  they  had  been  willing 
to  do  it.  They  took  long  journeys  in  freight  cars. 
Some  paid  their  fares.  I  saw  others  driven  from  their 
hold  beneath  fast  trains,  and  others  I  saw  dropping 
off,  smeared  with  dirt,  as  we  slowed  into  the  next 
station.  The  incidental  public  expenditure— lawyers, 
police,  court  trials  and  jails— furnish  ugly  hints  of  this 
colossal  waste  of  values,  actual  and  potential.  To 
multiply  this  special  instance  by  at  least  thirty,  would 
give  us  approximate  estimates  of  the  last  year's  de- 
struction. 

I  am  in  this  not  laying  blame  alone  upon  I.  W.  W. 
adventurers.  Many  and  deeper  causes  are  behind 
these  adolescent  pranks.  But  this  method  of  sabot- 
age, as  practiced  by  wandering  crowds  in  conflict  with 
local  police,  is  like  its  other  forms  of  waste.  It  is 
purely  destructive,  as  warfare  and  disease  are  de- 
structive. 

Explicitly  the  I.  W.  W.  mean  it  for  this  purpose. 
Capitalism,  they  tell  us,  can  be  reached  in  no 
other  way.  One  who  was  conspicuous  at  Lawrence 
told  me,  "Why,  the  only  fright  we  gave  the  cap- 
italists was  by  showing  them  that  we  had  power  to 
bring  their  business  and  their  profits  to  a  dead  stand- 
still. We  taught  them  this,  and  at  the  same  time  gave 
an  object-lesson  to  our  own  side.  We  had  only  to 
point  to  the  empty  mills  and  say, — 'Look  at  your 
work.    You  see  how  helpless  they  are  without  you. 


i 


■SM4.-4., 


TmOR 


nR! 


SABOTAGE 


157 


They  can't  weave  a  yard  or  make  a  dollar  without 
you.' "  That  was  a  fact,  just  as  a  deficit,  an  accident, 
or  death  b  a  fact;  but  it  is  not  a  fact  to  rejoice  in. 

If  the  wage  earners  are  to  get  possession  of  the  mills, 
as  is  the  dream  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  by  no  conceivable 
means  will  they  get  them,  except  by  decades  of  posi- 
tive and  cooperative  work  with  those  who  now  own  and 
direct  the  invested  capital  which  these  mills  repre- 
sent. Never  will  they  get  them  by  the  waste,  the 
negations,  and  evil  habits  which  sabotage  begets. 
Preached  generally  and  as  a  doctrine,  it  separates 
them  from  their  object  and  weakens  them  in  every 
capacity  to  attain  it. 


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XIII 
VIOLENCE 

Among  some  of  the  ablest  expositors  of  I.  W.  W. 
principles,  there  seems  to  me  very  little  pretence  that 
violence  may  not  be  necessary  at  certain  stages  and 
under  certain  conditions.  They  are  now  but  just 
started  on  their  journey.  From  political  Socialism 
and  craft  unions  they  have  cut  loose.  The  ordinary 
strike  best  illustrates  "direct  action."  '  It  begins 
locally  in  a  mine  or  mill.  It  then  reaches  a  higher 
form  in  "mass  action"  (the  mass  strike),  which  in- 
cludes the  industry.  If  those  working  over  a  whole 
industrial  area  go  out  together,  we  have  the  general 
strike.  The  "universal  strike "  arrives  when  so  many 
workers  go  out  in  any  country  as  to  disable  the 
main  sources  of  production.  At  any  point  along  the 
route,  the  "irritation  strike,"  quick  and  mysterious 
in  action,  is  a  sort  of  gymnastic  exercise  to  train  and 
educate  our  coming  masters.  These  irritants  mean- 
time are  admirably  calculated  to  unnerve  the  em- 
ployer and  prepare  him  the  sooner  for  his  exit. 

From  first  to  last  this  issue  between  the  I.  W.  VV. 
and  existing  society  is  a  trial  of  main  strength,  an  en- 
counter in  which  moral  concepts,  as  commonly  un- 

'  The  strike  illustrates  but  does  not  accurately  enough  define 
"direct  action"  which  assumes  an  unremitting  and  truceless  war  on 
capitalism.  The  old-fashioned  strike  with  accessories  of  arbitration, 
"agrccmcnlii"  rceugiiizc  the  wage  rj^stem.  That  recognition  is  un- 
forgivable to  direct  actionists. 

iS8 


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VIOLENCE 


159 


dcrstood,  are  rigidly  and  expressly  excluded.  Any- 
thing which  protects  the  present  order  is  for  that 
reason  "wrong."  Acts  which  lead  to  its  undoing  are 
therefore  "right."  They  have  a  most  winning  candor 
in  stating  their  case.  Rarely  is  there  any  taint  of  the 
purposed  obscurity  over  alarming  proposals  which  one 
sometimes  finds  among  more  sophisticated  Socialists. 
Mr.  Ettor,  who  is  on  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
I.  W.  W.,  puts  it  first  in  general  terms  but  jovially  and 
without  concealment:  We  also  hear  it  said  that  our  ef- 
forts are  dangerous.  Yes,  gentle  reader,  our  ideas,  our 
principles  and  object  are  certainly  dangerous  and  men- 
acing, applied  by  a  united  working  class  would  shake 
society  and  certainly  those  who  are  now  on  top 
sumptuously  feeding  upon  the  good  things  they  have 
not  produced  would  feel  the  shock.  To  talk  of  peace 
between  capital  and  labor  is  "stupid  or  knavish." 

It  is  as  if  a  Christian  asked  for  peace  with  sin. 
Judges,  attorneys,  preachers  and  politicians  are  one 
and  all  the  paid  lackeys  of  capitalism:— the  "kept- 
crew  "  hiding  "  under  the  silk  skirts  of  Mesdames  '  Law 
and  Order,'  "—"as  desperate  and  brutal  a  crew  as  ever 
scuttled  a  ship  or  quartered  a  man."  With  this  new 
classification  of  sinners,  the  way  is  plain.  Under  these 
shifting,  fugitive  terms  "right  and  wrong,"  the  appeal 
must  be  to  power,  "cold,  unsentimental  power."  In 
further  words  of  Mr.  Ettor  from  the  standpoint  of 
accepted  law.  morals,  religion,  etc.,  the  capitalists  are 
considered  right  and  justified  in  their  control  and 
ownership  of  industries  and  exploitation  of  labor  be 
cause  they  have  the  means  to  hire,  and  have  organized 
a  gang  that  skulks  under  the  name  of  "Law,  Order  and 


^'^SP? 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


Authority,"  that  13  'veil  paid  and  well  kept  to  inter- 
pret and  execute  laws  in  favor  of  the  paymasters  of 
course.  The  new  ethical  propaganda  thus  becomes 
clear.  New  conceptions  of  right  and  wrong  must 
generate  and  permeate  the  workers.  We  must  look 
on  conduct  and  actions  that  advance  the  social  and 
economic  position  of  the  working  class  as  right, 
ethically,  legally,  religiously,  socially  and  by  every 
other  measurement.  That  conduct  and  those  actions 
which  aid,  help  to  maintain  and  give  comfort  to  the 
capitalist  class,  we  must  consider  as  wrong  by  every 
standard.  If  definite  contracts  with  employers  have 
been  freely  entered  into,  labor  has  no  obligation  to 
keep  them.  Mr.  Trautmann's  words  are:  (Industrial 
Union  Methods.) 

"The  industrial  unionist,  however,  holds  that  there 
can  be  no  agreement  with  the  employers  of  labor,  which 
the  workers  have  to  consider  sacred  and  inviolable. 

"Industrial  unionists  will  therefore  sign  any  pledge, 
and  renounce  even  their  organization,  at  times  when 
they  are  not  well  prepared  to  give  battle,  or  when 
market  conditions  render  it  advisable  to  lay  low;  but 
they  will  do  just  the  reverse  of  what  they  had  to 
agree  to  under  duress,  when  occasion  arises  to  gain 
advantages  to  the  worker."  To  disobey  court  in- 
junctions is  a  "duty." 

The  general  secretary,  Mr.  St.  John,  writes  in  his 
I.  W.  W.  History:  "As  a  revolutionary  organization 
the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  aims  to  use  any 
and  all  tactics  that  will  get  the  results  sought  with 
the  least  expenditure  of  time  and  energy.  The  tactics 
used  are  determined  solely  by  the  power  of  the  or- 


i^^x'.^r.Ti?*! 


'\i:ii^ 


■^rf^. : ' 


.i\i^ 


VIOLENCE 


i6i 


ganization  to  make  good  in  their  use.    The  question 
of  'right'  and  'wrong'  does  not  concern  us."    This 
removes  all  obscurity  as  to  methods  and  their  justi- 
fication.   Capital  now  has  the  power.    It  is  the  task 
of  labor  to  get  that  power  for  itself.    It  is  to  take  it 
from  capitalists  by  direct  action,  sabotage,  boycott, 
and  the  cumulative  strike.    The  I.  W.  W.  organs  are 
now  having  rare  sport  over  "trade  union  contortions" 
to  explain  the  conviction  and  jailing  of  so  many  of  its 
members. 
Editorially  Solidarity  '  thus  comments: 
"Doubtless  all  the  owls  of  capitalism  and  'political 
socialism,'  (and  especially  the  latter,)  will  labor  and 
bring   forth   tedious  dissertations  on   the   'folly  of 
violence  in  conflicts  between  capital  and  labor.'    We 
opine,  however,  that  the  I.  W.  W.  will  decline  to  join 
in  this  unholy  medley  of  condemnation.    Assuming 
that  these  men  were  really  guilty  of  the  'jobs'  charged 
against  them,  we  may  question  the  expediency  of 
their  methods,  but  we  cannot  question  the  sincerity 
of  men  who  will  stake  their  lives  and  liberty  in  behalf 
of  their  union.    Indeed,  we  can  only  view  the  actions 
of  these  men  as  another  incident  in  the  class  struggle- 
not  perhaps  as  that  struggle  appears  to  fifth-story 
editors,  lawyers  and  other  saviours  of  the  working 
class;  but  as  it  is  viewed  by  the  sturdy  men  who  risk 
their  lives  daily  that  gigantic  structures  necessary  to 
civilization  may  be  put  in  place." 

To  those  who  fear  only  that  the  cause  of  labor  may 
come  into  disrepute  because  of  dynamite  methods, 
the  editor  continues: 

'Jan.  4,  1912. 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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"Nonsense!  One  year  of  capitalist  violence  will 
outweigh  a  thousand  years  of  labor's  'peaceful'  his- 
tory. Must  we  meekly  apologize  for  those  of  our 
kind  who  occasionally  strike  back  under  great  prov- 
ocation? The  capitalist  sowed  the  wind  and  reaped 
a  little  zephyr  of  a  cyclone  in  this  case  under  consid- 
eration. Let  the  blood  be  upon  the  heads  of  our 
masters!" 

One  of  the  editors  of  the  International  Socialist 
Review,  Mr.  Frank  Bohn,  writes  (in  the  Call, 
Jan.  6th)  on  the  thirty-three  "Dynamiters"  just 
imprisoned  at  Leavenworth.  Like  the  McNamaras 
their  colleagues,  they  are  ''the  John  Browns  of 
the  social  revolution,"  they  arc  "the  soldiers  of 
the  working  class."  Touay,  he  says,  they  arc  pass- 
ing through  the  doors  of  the  Leavenworth  Prison. 
"  Let  every  revolutionary  worker  in  the  land 
stand  with  bowed  head  as  they  pass.  They  are 
fighters  of  the  working  class.  That  is  enough  for  us 
now.  " 

"  May  everyone  of  you  thirty-three  live  to  come  out 
of  the  jail  so  that  we  may  grasp  you  by  the  hand  and 
welcome  you  as  comrades  into  the  ranks  of  an  army 
which  can  never  know  defeat." 

There  seems  but  one  intelligent  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  these  opinions.  In  no  case  in  this  volume 
have  they  been  "torn  from  their  context."  I  have  ex- 
cluded far  more  violent  opinions  than  any  which  arc 
quoted  because,  like  sparks  from  a  flint,  they  were 
struck  out  in  the  heat  of  excitement  or  had  a  wholly 
irresponsible  origin.  From  the  coolest  statement  of 
aim,  of  purpose  and  of  method,  intimidating  and  de- 


r]n^«rrjs::-r, 


LlrV'C  ■»?.-_?         -J 


VIOLENCE 


163 


structive  action  is  as  unavoidable  as  in  any  other  form 
of  warfare.' 

I  asked  a  writer  in  this  propaganda  what  he  meant 
by  telling  the  public  that  violence  was  entirely  ex- 
cluded in  their  principles.  He  said  that  it  was  both 
unnecessary  and  unintelligent.  "When  we  have  the 
I)o\ver,"  he  added,  "we  have  only  to  stand  off.  We 
nicd  not  take  our  hands  out  of  our  pockets  or  utter  a 
threat."  This  worthy  sentiment  might  be  true  if 
rapiUdism  were  really  at  the  end  of  its  tether;  if  labor 
were  ready  to  assume  its  functions  and  had  reached 
that  degree  of  mastery  essential  to  its  control  of  the 
world's  business.  If  we  imagine  this  end  to  be  at- 
tained, violence  would  be,  in  his  words,  "unnecessary 
and  unintelligent."  The  trifling  obstacle  here  is  that 
none  of  these  things  have  yet  happened.  It  will  be 
marvel  enough  ii  they  happen  in  several  generations. 

Our  soHcitude  about  violence  does  not  concern  the 
far  end  of  achieved  power,  when  the  conquerors  could 
afford  to  "  fold  their  arms,"  our  concern  is  with  Ihe  long 
intervening  spaces  between  the  now  and  the  then.  Can 
labor  use  its  approved  weapons— the  five-fold  strike,  its 
ingenuities  of  sabotage-  in  the  long  tug  before  it  brings 
capitalism  to  its  knees,  without  violence?  There  is 
noi  a  page  in  the  history  of  our  I.  W.  W.,  or  of  Syn- 
dicalism generally,  to  give  this  hope  the  slightest 
warrant  and  most  Syndicalists  are  perfectly  aware 
of  the  fact.  The  main  battle  is  all  before  them,  and 
both  their  weapons  and  their  primary  doctrine  of  the 

'  III  the  article  quoted  from  Tfic  Independent,  Mr.  Tridon  says, 
m  this  Qght  Syndicalists  do  not  even  pretend  to  observe  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare.    The  flag  of  truce  does  not  protect  emissaries. 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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"class  warfare"  makes  this  issue  of  probable  violence 
hardly  worth  discussion.' 

It  is  a  damaging  objection  to  any  body  of  principles 
which  carries  with  it  as  practical  necessities  so  much 
approved  destruction  as  "direct  action"  and  sabotage 
imply.  Economic  and  cultural  benefits  which  the 
race  has  thus  far  garnered  are  not  to  be  dealt  with 
after  the  jaunty  manner  of  the  I.  W.  W.  It  may  have 
the  frankest  admission,  that  these  social  accumulations 
have  grown  up  through  every  imperfection  known  to 
human  cunning.  Private  appropriation  has  assumed 
excesses  of  inequality  that  now  threaten  us  as  in- 
sidiously as  any  other  disease.  We  have  learned  that 
a  large  part  of  this  inequality  is  artificial  and  unneces- 
sary. There  is  no  higher  statesmanship  in  the  world 
than  that  which  now  sees  this,  admits  it,  and  aims 
constructively  to  correct  it.  But  the  crude  simplicity 
of  methods  which  assume  violence  is  childishly  incom- 
petent for  the  task  put  upon  it.  No  section  of  society 
would  suffer  from  it  as  the  weak  would  suffer.  What- 
ever place  Syndicalism  makes  for  itself  in  the  coopera- 
tive service  of  reform,  its  ways  must  be  supplemented 
and  controlled  by  those  to  whom  experience  has  brought 
some  enhghtened  sense  of  what  society  is  and  what  so- 


'In  the  New  Rniru.;  Jan.  18,  Mr.  English  Walling  says:  'Vio- 
lence also  is  usually  condoned  on  the  unconsciously  humoroui^ 
ground  thai  if  the  police  and  militia  were  not  [)resent,  there 
would  be  little  violence.  No  unions  advocate  violence,  but  none  sur- 
render to  the  law  those  among  their  menibers  who  succumb  to  tem[)- 
tation  under  critical  or  exceptional  circumstances,  and  it  is  rarely 
that  they  do  not  furnish  defense  funds.  Even  the  I.  \V.  W.  does 
not  advocate  violence,  but  it  is  more  frank  in  its  attitude  towards 
it  than  the  older  unions." 


VIOLENCE 


l6S 


SI 


cial  life  is  as  expressed  in  industry.  These  have  heights, 
depths,  and  complications  of  which  the  objects  of  our 
study  have  at  least  as  much  to  learn  as  others. 

I  was  told  of  a  Pennsylvania  farmer  with  keen  in- 
tellectual interests  who  was  led  to  study  the  I.  W.  W. 
propaganda.  Having  read  a  good  deal  about  Social- 
ism, he  became  so  absorbed  in  this  new  and  bolder 
variation,  as  to  go  a  long  distance  to  hear  a  lecturer. 
In  the  questions  which  followed,  the  speaker  had  said 
of  a  steel  mill  near  Pittsburg,  "We  shall  take  it  if  we 
can  get  it.  Everything  in  it  that  labor  didn't  make  was 
stolen  out  of  labor.  We  can't  get  it 'politically.'  We 
shall  take  it  directly  just  as  soon  as  we  have  the  power 
to  do  it.  The  capitalists  have  stolen  from  us  since  the 
mill  was  started,  and  we  don't  propose  to  pay  'em 
just  because  they've  been  robbing  us." 

The  farmer  was  not  satisfied  with  this  easy  account 
of  things.  Among  other  questions,  he  insisted  upon 
knowing  by  what  right  the  special  set  of  laborers,  who 
happened  just  then  to  be  in  the  mill,  proposed  to  take 
to  themselves  all  that  others  before  them  had  earned. 
"You  who  are  now  there  didn't  make  the  mill  nor  very 
much  of  the  machinery.  I've  got  a  big  well-stocked 
farm,  but  I  made  only  part  of  it.  IMy  grandfather 
and  his  boys,  my  father  and  my  brothers— all  of  us 
helped  get  it  where  it  now  is.  Shall  the  hired  men  that 
I  have  now,  come  in  and  take  it?"  This  farm  had 
expensive  machinery  and  was  worked  under  the  wage 
system  as  "capitalistically"  as  the  mill,  and  the  ques- 
tion was  perfectly  fair.  Its  greater  simplicity  brings 
out  the  fantastic  impossibilities  of  remedying  our  in- 
dustrial wrongs  by  any  such  rough  and  ready  methods. 


'  • 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


r 


If  "power"  represented  by  the  I.  W.  W.  is  to  be 
used,  as  they  warn  us,  "  to  any  extent  necessary  to  its 
purpose"  and  if  capitalism  still  possesses  a  fraction 
of  the  strength  which  these  adventurers  ascribe  to  it, 
nothing  short  of  violence  in  some  form  can  deprive 
it  of  its  possessions.  Legal  and  political  reforms  and 
all  the  resources  of  taxation  are  excluded.  To  subdue 
capitalism  by  the  strike,  direct  action  and  sabotage 
can  have  no  meaning  apart  from  the  strategic  uses 
which  violence  and  intimidation  oflfer. 

Among  the  reasons  why  these  vigors  will  fail,  is  that 
a  most  powerful  section  of  the  working  classes  will 
oppose  them  to  a  man.  So  obvious  a  fact  seems  not 
yet  to  have  the  least  recognition. 

It  is  true  that  among  prosperous  folk,  there  is  much 
specious  canting  about  the  stupendous  treasures  which 
labor  has  stored  in  savings  banks  and  such  like  in- 
stitutions, but  the  cant  of  those  who  insist  that  labor 
has  nothing,  or  nothing  worth  speaking  about,  is 
quite  as  ofTensive  in  its  distortion. 

The  truth  is  that  the  accumulated  savings  of  very 
humble  people  have  helped  to  build  every  shop  and 
mill  and  railroad  in  the  land.  Hundreds  of  millions 
of  savings  bank  deposits  and  insurance  funds  are  in- 
vested in  the  "machinery  of  production."  It  is  :i 
small  part  compared  to  ownership  by  the  richer 
classes,  but  the  man  with  a  hundred  dollars  in  the 
bank  is  as  tenacious  of  his  small  savings  as  the  rich 
are  of  their  greater  savings.  Our  revolutionists  think 
this  argument  funny  and  preposterous,  but  it  stands 
for  a  fact  with  which  they  will  have  to  reckon  in 
every  first   and   last   attempt   "to   take  over"  the 


VIOLENCE 


167 


I 


productive  and  distributive  machinery  of  this  coun- 
try. 

All  the  fertile  and  stagey  analogies  of  the  French 
Revolution;  the  unwearying  assertion  that  "capital 
has  everything  and  labor  nothing,"  are  so  grossly  mis- 
leading that  we  can  await  results  with  perfect  con- 
fidence. Small  as  they  are,  wage  earners'  savings  in 
this  country  are  altogether  sufficient  to  create  multi- 
tudinous centers  of  resistance  against  any  paralyzing 
onslaught  against  these  producing  properties. 

In  a  garment  workers'  strike  in  New  York  City,  I 
stood  on  the  street  with  the  man  who  led  it.  Hundreds 
of  Jews  were  pouring  out  of  a  public  building  in  which 
the  strike  was  under  discussion.  My  companion 
pointed  to  them  and  said,  "You  would  not  think  it, 
but  there  are  not  ten  men  in  that  crowd  who  haven't 
money  in  the  bank.  It  isn't  much,  but  it  is  en».ugh  to 
make  every  one  of  them  a  sort  of  conservative."  I 
am  not  making  the  inane  suggestion  that  these  peoi)le 
have  enough,  or  that  the  whole  bulk  of  wage  earners' 
savings  in  the  land  justifies  a  single  iniquity  in  our 
system.  Our  present  economic  distribution  is  crim- 
inally unfair  because  so  much  of  it  is  unnecessary  and 
avoidable. 

These  evils,  however,  are  not  to  be  met  by  the  popu- 
lar I.  W.  VV.  methods.  Some  millions  of  wage  earners 
and  farmers  have  just  enough  interest  in  ways  that 
are  wiser  and  fairer  to  take  good  care  of  themselves 
against  noisy  minorities  that  have  learned  so  little 
about  the  business  world  and  of  the  ways  through 
which  it  is  to  be  reformed. 


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XIV 
ANARCHISM 

Syndicalism  has  much  in  common  with  Socialism 
but  the  very  intensity  of  its  emphasis  carries  it  beyond 
what  is  organic  in  the  sociaUst  movement.  The 
student  is  never  sure  in  whose  presence  he  stands — 
that  of  the  Anarchist  or  that  of  the  Socialist. 

Syndicalism  now  comes  with  a  new  dialect.'  There 
is  much  mocking  of  "reason"'  and  much  deification  of 
impulse  and  feeling.  There  are  the  familiar  warnings 
against  the  'iuw  "  and  institutions.  If  these  are  rigid, 
violence  may  offer  the  only  road  to  "freedom."  We 
are  put  on  our  guard  against  too  much  reflection.  This 
may  lead  to  submission  which  is  the  slave's  vice.  So 
easy  is  it  to  reason  ourselves  into  smooth  acquiescence 
with  ruling  economic  and  social  powers — ambition, 
desire  of  wealth,  all  that  may  place  us  among  the 
flesh-pots  and  separate  us  from  the  human  mass,  that 
the  Devil  gets  easy  possession  of  our  souls.  But 
"feeling,  nobly  kindled  into  enthusiasm  saves  us  from 
these  servilities."  Thus  the  new  morality  is  to  be 
free  from  all  "calculating  reflection."  Think  of  a 
"calculating  soldier."  Think  of  his  reflecting  about 
his  pay  in  front  of  the  enemy!    No,  it  is  spontaneity 

•This  dialect  is  strikingly  like  much  in  tliat  powerful  .inarchist 
book  Stirnerb"  Der  hinzi^e  uiid  iiin  Iui;eiilhum.  es|H'cially  in  that 
part  oi"  iLc  volume  dealing  with  the  "power"  of  the  individual. 

I08 


ANARCHISM 


169 


t  (•;*  '! 


and  enthusiasm  he  needs.  What  of  the  artist  who  dulls 
his  vision  by  haggling  and  reckoning  over  his  pay,  or 
the  inventor  sinking  his  fine  imagination  in  calcula- 
tions over  royalties!  In  figures  like  these  syndicalist 
metaphysic  deals.  Thus  Sorel  dramatizes  his  "sub- 
lime myth"  of  the  general  strike.  It  calls  like  "un- 
seen music  in  the  night"  to  the  deeper  and  more 
unselfish  passions  of  the  soul.  Its  power  is  that  it 
cannot  be  proved.  Only  what  is  beyond  proof  moves 
us  greatly.  He  despises  sociology  with  its  goggled 
pretence  of  laws  and  classified  data  on  which  reasoned 
prediction  can  be  based.  Far  better  is  a  [)hilosophy 
half  articulate  with  its  cavernous  depths,  its  terrors, 
its  silences  and  its  mysteries.'  "The  unspoiled  soul 
of  the  proletariat"  is  to  be  initiated  into  these  veiled 
places  where  "  tired  and  sleeping  masses  of  men"  may 
be  roused  to  a  sense  of  their  power.  Only  through 
disturbing  and  dramatic  figures  speaking  to  the  im- 
agination can  they  be  made  to  look  and  listen. 

Above  all,  in  this  awakening  is  the  proletariat  to 
learn  that  it  is  to  have  no  mastery  but  its  own.  Such 
salvation  as  it  wins  must  be  solely  through  its  own 
initiative  and  direction.  When  it  says,  "No  God,  no 
master,"  there  are  no  reservations.  Though  Sorel 
makes  much  of  religion  as  myth,  the  Syndicalists 
generally  are  not  timid  and  discreet  like  so  many 
Socialists  on  the  subject  of  instituted  religion.  They 
turn  against  it  because  of  what  it  asks.  Christian 
\  irtues,  like  reverence,  humility  and  obedience,  are  all 

'  Kvcn  from  a  scholar  shuwinj;  much  sympathy  with  Professor 
Her^son— I  have  heard  the  phrase,  "lie  is  the  I'Mlosophcr  of  the  Un- 
utterable." 


41 


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170 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


"slave  morals"  and  virile  youth  should  be  taught  to 
despise  them. 

It  is  because  the  State  stands  for  uig^nized  external 
force,  using  for  its  own  ends  armies,  laws,  courts, 
education,  churches,  flags,  that  it  too  becomes,  as  it 
docs  with  the  Anarchist,  the  arch  enemy. 

Sorel  not  only  strikes  at  capitalism  and  at  politics 
that  is  its  handmaid,  he  strikes  also  at  the  high 
priest  of  scientifu  Socialism,  Karl  Marx.  Sorel  sees 
in  Marx  a  fatalistic  optimism  about  the  future  of 
capitalism  with  its  industrial  units  growing  ever  bigger 
because  they  cannot  help  it.  An  inexorable  evolution 
is  crowding  the  victors  into  more  compact  bodies, 
until  by  very  over-weight  they  fall  like  ripened  fruit 
into  collectivist  possession.  This  is  all  too  easy  for 
Monsieur  Sorel  and  he  will  have  none  of  it.  Marxism 
is  already  in  a  state  of  "decomposition,''  and  to  this 
effect  he  writes  his  little  book.' 

Not  so  blithely  do  things  go  just  where  we  want 
them  in  this  world.  They  move  toward  these  desired 
ends,  not  of  their  own  impelling,  but  only  as  we 
urge  and  direct  them  by  our  own  will  and  creative 
energies.  Thus  the  Philosopher  Bergson  appears  upon 
the  scene :— he  of  the  "world  that  we  ourselves  create," 
with  la  volenle  crcatrice. 

Rousseau  is  again  revived.  The  real  tyrant  is  the 
majority  rule.  To  submit  even  for  a  year  to  an  elected 
person  is  to  submit /t/r  that  year  to  tyranny,  therefore, 
we  will  none  of  it.  It  is  Walt  Whitman's  "never  ending 
audacity  of  elected  persons."  It  is  Thoreau  jailed  in 
Concord  for  non-payment  of  taxes.  It  is  Tolstoi  with 
'  La  Decomposition  du  Marxism. 


\.7.:^=-:vi'^  -sn: 


ANARCHISM 


I7J 


his  serene  and  enduring  hatreci  of  the  State.  The 
same  anarchist  protest  is  in  the  syndicalist  Edouard 
Berth,  He  calls  the  State  the  supreme  parasite-/c 
parasite  par  excellence.  It  is  the  "great  anpro«lucer," 
like  a  vampire  sucking  the  life  blood  of  the  nation.* 
Its  armies,  navies,  police,  courts,  prisons,  arc  logical 
forms  of  this  concentration  of  |)ower  in  the  State.  By 
the  same  reasoning  parliament:,  and  politics  are 
enemies,  and  even  democracy  with  its  universal  suf- 
frage comes  in  for  fiery  criticism  at  the  hands  of  many 
of  these  pungent  expositors.  An  authoritative  Syn- 
dicalist like  Lagardelle  holds  that  "The  duel  is  on 
between  democracy  and  a  genuine  working-class 
socialism."  With  hostility  to  the  state,  "patriotism" 
becomes  a  disease.  Everywhere  workmen  must  be 
taught  to  "think  away"  every  frontier  line  that 
separates  the  nations.  Only  thus  can  the  "cosmic 
brotherhood  of  man"  round  itself  into  completeness. 
Morality  will  take  no  higher  flight  than  in  contributing 
"the  soldier's  penny"  to  teach  him  infidelity  to  his 
superiors— to  teach  him  just  wh>'  and  how  capitalism 
is  using  him  and  fooling  him  to  do  its  own  dirty  work. 

In  its  theoretic  statement,  this  is  the  "higher  an- 
archy." 

To  associate  the  I.  W.  W.  with  a  ruffian  clutch- 
ing a  smoking  bomb,  is  a  silliness  that  need  not 
detain  us.  It  is  true  that  no  revolutionary  movement 
is  without  its  criminals.  They  were  ubiquitous  in  our 
War  of  the  Revolution.  They  followed  the  wake  of 
Garibaldi,  and  Mazzini  was  never  free  from  them. 
They  were  among  the  English  Chartists,  and  never 
>  Edouard  Berth:  Les  Nouveaux  Aspects  dit  Socialisme. 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


r^:, 


have  been  absent  from  Ireland's  long  struggle  for  self- 
rule.  The  I.  VV.  W.  will  not  escape  this  common 
destiny.  It  will  attract  to  itself  many  extremely 
frail  human  creatures,  but  the  movement  as  a 
whole  is  not  to  be  condemned  by  these  adherents  or 
by  the  shabby  device  of  using  panicky  terms  like 
anarchist.  To  say  that  Syndicalism  has  strong 
anarchist  tendencies  is  nevertheless  strictly  accu- 
rate. A  rank,  exuberant  and  rather  wanton  in- 
dividualism has  characterized  our  own  variety  of 
Syndicalism  from  the  start. 

In  Europe  intelligent  Anarchists  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced type  have  been  a  part  of  the  movement.    In 
Spain  (1908)  they  followed  their  leader  Malatesta  into 
the  trade  unions.    Many  of  the  French  Syndicalists, 
like  Pelloutier  the  founder,  Delesalle,   Pouget  and 
Yvetot,  glory  in  the  anarchist  name.   Sorel,  whom  the 
academician,  Paul  Bourget,  says  is  the  most  penetrat- 
ing intelligence  among  Syndicalists,  has  neither  hesita- 
tions nor  concealments  about  this.    He  tells  us  plainly 
how  great  an  event  it  was  when  Anarchists  gained 
admission  to  the  trade  unions.    "Historians,"  he  tells 
us,  "will  one  day  recognize  that  this  entrance  was  one 
of  the  greatest  events  which  has  happened  in  our 
time."    In  an  eloquent  passage  he  praises  the  work 
of  the  anarchist  in  the  trade  union,  ending  with  the 
words.    "They  instructed  labor  that  it  need  not  blush 
for  deeds  of  violence."    I  am  fully  aware  how  easy 
it  is  to  take  advantage  of  this  scare  word  in  order  to 
make  cheap  points  against  the  I.  W.  W.  This  pettiness 
may  be  avoided  if  we  first  state  the  truth.    Anarch- 
ism, in  its  eviler  aspects,  is  not  in  the  least  confined  to 


ANARCHISM 


173 


the  "lower  classes."    To  flout  and  circumvent  the 
law  is  anarchy,  and  none  among  our  people  have  done 
this  thing  oftener,  or  on  a  larger  scale,  or  with  more 
effrontery,  than  many  powerful  business  interests  of 
the  land.    The  Governor  of  California  appointed  a 
successful  and  highly  respected  business  man  to  in- 
vestigate and  report  upon  the  "disturbances  in  the 
city  and  county  of  San  Diego,"  where  the  I.  W.  W. 
had  become  active  as  speakers  on  the  street.     On 
page  18  of  this  report,  published  by  the  state,  may  be 
seen  editorial  utterances  of  the  two  leading  papers  of 
San  Diego,  more  wildly  anarchistic  than  anything 
quoted  from  I.  W.  W.  literature  in  this  book.    After 
very  plain  statements  against  the  I.  VV.  W.,  Colonel 
Weinstock  reads  the  lesson  (page  20)  to  the  "good 
citizens"  of  San  Diego: 

"  But  it  cannot  now  be  said,  nor  will  its  good  citizens 
say,  when  a  normal  condition  shall  be  restored  and 
sanity  returns  to  the  community,  that  there  was  any 
justification  whatever  on  the  part  of  men  professing 
to  be  law-abiding  citizens  themselves  to  become  law- 
breakers and  to  violate  the  most  sacred  provisions  of 
the  constitution;  to  preach  with  their  mouths  the 
sacredness  of  the  constitution  and  its  inviolability, 
and  to  break  with  their  hands  the  most  sacred  provi- 
sion of  this  same  constitution  by  robbing  men  of  their 
liberty;  by  assaulting  them  with  weapons,  by  de- 
grading and  humiliating  them,  by  endeavoring  to 
thrust  patriotism  down  their  throats  in  compelling 
them  with  a  weapon  held  over  their  heads  to  kiss  the 
American  flag,  to  sing  the  American  national  anthem 
and  then  to  deport  them." 


i 


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m 


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174 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


11 1 


III  f 


From  a  citizen  in  lower  California,  I  heard  the  de- 
fense of  the  "best  men  in  San  Diego."  He  was  him- 
self a  prosperous  man,  of  college  training  and  of  un- 
usual public  spirit;  but  the  I.  W.  W.  were  "rats  carry- 
ing a  disease  and  were  to  be  treated  as  such."  They 
were  to  be  treated  as  such  "law  or  no  law."  "We 
could  not,"  he  said,  "  defend  ourselves  legally,  and 
were  morally  justified  in  taking  the  law  into  our  own 
hands."  A  college  professor  who  was  vith  me,  tried 
to  argue  with  him,  saying,  "But  you,  too,  are  defend- 
ing the  theory  and  practice  of  anarchy  in  its  lowest 
form.  You  have  at  your  back  the  whole  accumu- 
lated machinery  of  laws  and  police  powers  that  have 
been  built  up  for  the  very  purpose  of  putting  an  or- 
dered and  impersonal  justice  in  the  place  of  the  old 
private  codes.  At  the  first  strain,  you  fly  to  the  old 
barbarisms."  The  gentleman  was  as  unruiHed  as  if  a 
child  had  upbraided  him.  Through  and  behind  his 
calm  exterior  one  saw  in  darkened  outlines  too  many 
probable  conflicts  between  the  anarchy  of  those  who 
have  and  the  anarchy  of  those  who  have  not. 

As  far  as  I  can  learn,  this  caustic  admonition  is  even 
more  richly  deserved  by  corresponding  citizens  in 
southern  lumber  camps.  There  have  been  dangerous 
approaches  to  the  same  fundamental  lawlessness  in 
recent  dealing  with  this  movement  in  many  other 
communities. 

It  will  be  said,  and  rightly  said,  that  this  does  not 
excuse  a  single  outrage  of  I.  W.  W.  origin.  It  does, 
however,  put  us  in  a  frame  of  mind  in  which  with  some 
intelligent  impartiality,  we  can  judge  the  general  spirit 
of  anarchy  in  our  midst.    This  may  guard  us  from  the 


i 


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"?W^'--'vV  ■■,'};.<*.*  . 


ANARCHISM 


I7S 


moral  poltroonery  of  forcing  a  standard  upon  the  weak 
which  the  strong  will  not  recognize  or  obey. 

The  element  of  anarchy  peculiar  to  the  I.  W.  W.  is 
its  inherent  dislike  of  organic  restraint.  No  one  uses 
the  word  "organization"  oftener  or  practices  it  less. 
All  organization  to  be  effective  puts  a  curb  upon  its 
members.  It  standardizes  conduct  and  sets  definite 
limits  to  individual  eccentricity,  but  the  essence  of 
anarchy  is  to  reject  group  constraints.  A  century  of 
trade  unionism  has  brought  about  in  its  better  mem- 
bership a  degree  of  organization  that  acts  with  great 
power  upon  individual  whim  and  waywardness. 
Socialism  has  already  acquired  a  gicat  deal  of  organ- 
ization that  submits  the  individual  to  severe  and  con- 
tinuous schooling.  There  are  bickermgs  and  wrang- 
ling enough  in  the  socialist  camps,  but,  at  its  best,  it 
has  established  the  fact  of  group-training  which  ranks 
it  among  the  conserving  social  forces.  Of  the  I.  W.  W. 
this  cannot  be  said.  It  is  held  together  by  the  yeasty 
dramatic  commotions  in  which  it  is  engaged.  From 
its  first  convention  eight  years  ago,  it  has  been  rent 
by  temperamental  dissensions.  Such  "organization" 
as  it  has,  is  a  fitful  and  fluctuating  quantity,  ever  ready 
to  escape  from  the  slightest  real  and  steadying  con- 
straint which  organization  implies.  Only  by  desper- 
ate efforts  has  the  General  Confederation  in  France 
held  a  minority  membership  that  is  always  threatened 
by  withdrawal  of  unions  that  have  gained  the  least 
real  stajility. 

To  state  the  facts  of  this  anarchistic  tendency  is  not 
wholly  to  condemn  the  movement.  It  only  defines 
its  guerrilla  character  and  its  limitations.     It  only 


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176 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


makes  clearer  to  us  what  it  is  likely  to  do  and  what  not 
to  do. 

There  is  not  a  spot  where  the  Syndicalist  jfight  has 
been  waged  in  which  the  persisting  and  unavoidable 
conflict  between  the  anarchistic  and  the  social  prin- 
ciple docs  not  appear.  An  impetuous  individualism 
cannot  endure  organic  relationships. 

In  Italy  if  the  tenant  farm  hands  (mezzadria)  wish 
to  enter  co-partnership  with  landlords  and  share  the 
gains,  the  anarchist  type  in  the  movement  wars  against 
this,  precisely  as  our  I.  W.  W.  attack  all  "labor  con- 
tracts" or  agreements  with  employers;  precisely  as 
they  now  fight  the  admirable  "protocol"  in  the  New 
York  garment  industry.  These  alliances  with  capital- 
ism are  an  impediment  to  anarchist  activity.  With 
labor  often  less  than  thirty  cents  a  day  ^  and  with  the 
direct  sympathy  of  small  metayer  fa.niers,  the  condi- 
tion is  perfect  for  Syndicalism,  if  it  has  developed  the 
social  as  distinct  from  the  anarchist  feeling.  Nowhere 
better  than  in  Italy  can  we  watch  this  conflict  between 
the  two  types. 

As  the  twentieth  century  came  in,  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  strikes  each  year  among  these  people.  At 
the  great  agricultural  strike  in  Italy  with  the 
help  of  Consul  Jarvis  at  Milan,  I  saw  the  effects 
of  this  uprising.  It  was  waged  with  incredible  bit- 
terness. On  the  industrial  side,  as  in  Milan,  more 
than  one  hundred  were  shot  and  between  two  and 
three  thousand  imprisoned.  As  in  our  own  western 
countrj',  the  authorities  were  paralyzed  by  numbers. 
Two  years  later  King  Humbert  was  murdered  and  it 

I  In  i8qS  T  found  men  at  work  in  the  fields  for  20  cents  a  day. 


ANARCHISM 


T77 


is  a  sinister  comment  that  Syndicalists  have  made 
upon  that  event.  The  government  relaxed  its  sever- 
ities against  "organizations,"  prompting  such  utter- 
ances as  these:  "Violence  is  said  to  be  very  wicked  by 
the  praying  bourgeois,  but  we  all  now  see  that  it  is 
the  only  language  to  which  the  watch  dogs  of  private 
property  will  listen.  Let  us  not  forget  the  lesson.  " 
Here  is  poverty  with  conscious  discontent  "that  can 
be  organized  "  into  fighting  trade  unions.  In  northern 
industrial  centers,  the  unions  were  federated  into 
"Labor  Bureaus."  It  was  these  latter  {Bourses  du 
Travail)  in  France  that  gave  Pelloutier  his  chance  to 
turn  internal  political  feuds  to  his  advantage  and 
guide  these  federated  bodies  into  the  gathering  cur- 
rent of  revolutionary,  anti-political  Syndicalism  with 
anarchist  tendencies. 

In  Italy  Anarchists  proud  of  the  title  were  prom- 
inent in  the  Labor  Party  at  its  formation  in  1885. 
From  this  beginning,  there  never  was  a  day's  peace 
until  six  years  later  when  Anarchists  and  Socialists 
separate  because  of  incurable  dissensions.  The  so- 
cialist is  now  the  conservative;  the  "anarchist- 
syndicalist"  is  the  revolutionary  radical,  shouting  his 
contempt  at  every  measure  of  "reform." 

It  seems  to  me  to  have  the  utmost  significance  that 
in  this  conflict,  we  see  socialists  in  Italy  within  five  or 
six  years,  shift  their  activities  to  the  creation  and 
strengthening  of  cooperative  banks  and  distributive 
associations  for  the  help  of  small  farmers  and  wage 
earners.  This  was  due  in  part  to  the  growing  con- 
viction that  small  farming  was  not  after  all  to  be 
swallowed  up,  in  any  known  time,  by  the  big  capital- 


lU 


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I: 

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It! 

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1 


178 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


If' 


istic  culture.  It  was  due  still  more,  perhaps,  to  clearer 
understanding  of  the  real  issue  between  the  logic  of 
the  Anarchist  and  that  of  the  Socialist. 

There  is  no  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  labor 
struggle  so  luminously  clear  as  that  in  which  the 
practical  Anarchist  fights  social  organization.  Where- 
ever  Socialism  reaches  the  organic  state,  enabling  it 
to  cooperate  with  other  social  forces,  the  Anarchist 
attacks  it  as  Bakounine  attacked  Marx,  as  Anar- 
chists raised  havoc  with  the  Chartists  and  as  W.  D. 
Haywood  is  at  this  moment  raising  equal  havoc  with 
the  socialist  party. 

This  brings  us  to  two  rigorous  tests  to  which  Syndi- 
calism must  submit,  if  it  is  to  pass  out  of  activities 
primarily  destructive,  (i)  How  are  the  means  of 
production  to  be  taken  over?  (2)  What  proposals  are 
given  us  for  positive,  constructive  action? 


\       i 


■^    I 


XV 
THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST 

No  practical  question  in  the  future  of  Socialism  will 
excite  more  vehement  controversy  than  that  of  "com- 
pensation." What  Socialism  wants  and  is  determined 
to  get  is  now  largely  pos'  ^ssed  by  what  is  loosely 
called  the  capitalist  cla'  ^.ne  the  ownership  of  land 
this  control  of  the  mac'  aery  of  production  is  thought 
to  give  the  possessors  an  almost  unlimited  power  over 
the  lives  and  destinies  of  those  who  are  without  prop- 
erty. It  is  this  dependence  and  insecurity  that  ac- 
counts largely  for  the  increasing  hostility  to  the 
"wage-system."  No  analogy  is  so  frequent  as  that 
of  the  slave  relation  under  this  system. 

The  remedy  which  Socialism  brings  is  to  get  the 
land  and  all  the  vast  mechanism  embodied  in  trans- 
porlation,  mill,  factory  and  mine  away  from  its  present 
holders.  The  people  are  themselves  to  own  and  use 
these  wealth-producers  in  the  common  interest. 

We  shall  see  more  clearly  what  the  I.  W.  W.  propose 
and  also  what  they  are  likely  to  do,  so  far  as  they 
get  power,  if  we  dwell  a  moment  on  the  more  general 
attitude  of  socialism  toward  compensation. 

If  it  is  to  take  over  "land  and  the  means  of  produc- 
tion," it  is  fair  to  press  the  question:  how  is  this  to  be 
done?  There  are  plenty  of  socialists  of  conservative  tem- 
per who  reply  that  experience  from  a  dozen  countries 
furnishes  all  the  answer  we  require.    We  have  already 

179 


.! 


If 


f  I 


A  J    I 


I     11 


n 


m 


1 


Ui^; 


i8o 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


•It  ! 


"socialized"'  very  consiileraljlo  portions  of  "the  means 
of  production  and  of  the  land."    In  several  countries 
this  process  has  gone  so  far  that  the  term  "state 
socialism"  accurately  describes  the  stage  of  sociahza- 
tion  already  reached.    No  part  of  the  "machmery  of 
production"  is  so  important  as  the  railroa.l,  yet  it 
has  been  taken  over  in  one  country  after  another  untd 
the  United  States  and  England  arc  almost  alone 
among  more  than  thirty  countries  to  preserve  private 
ownership.     It  is   from  English  railway   managers 
themselves  that  we  now  hear,  "Our  roads  will  be 
under  government  control  within  a  few  years.    It  is 
only  a  question  of  time."    If  we  add  to  this  history  of 
socialized  property,  the  telegraph,  telephone  and  ex- 
press companies,  coal  mines,  life  and  fire  insurance, 
trolley  and  gas  systems,  vast  areas  of  public  domain 
and  forests,  we  get  some  measure  of  this  process.  ^ 

To  the  question,  how  is  socialism  to  take  possession, 
it  is  said,  "We  shall  continue  as  we  have  begun.  We 
have  only  to  go  straight  on  upon  the  same  road,  and 
long  before  the  century  is  out  we  shall  have  every 
scrap  of  important  business  socialized." 

Thus  far,  we  see  that  these  great  private  properties 
have  been,  upon  the  whole,  fairly  bought  and  paid  for. 
There  has  been  hardly  an  instance  of  confiscation. 
Even  if  railways,  trolley  and  gas  properties  "origi- 
nated in  robbery,"  it  is  recognized  that  the  properties 
have  passed  in  large  part  to  those  who  later  bought 
in  good  faith.  I  have  heard  a  socialist  lecturer  very 
eloquent  on  this  point.  "We  should  be,"  he  said, 
"just  as  dirty  thieves  as  the  worst  of  them,  not  to  take 
this  immense  transfer  of  property  to  innocent  hands 


THE   DISAPrF,AR.\\CE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST     i8i 

into  account.  Society  has  given  every  sanction  that 
it  can  give  to  these  acquisitions,  and  we  don't  proiKJse 
to  steal  them." 

When  actual  dispossessioii  is  necessary,  a  system  of 
"bond  issues  to  be  paid  out  of  profits  in  the  industry" 
or  various  forms  of  "annuities"  arc  proposed  by  many 
sociahst  writers. 

There  are  most  formidable  financial  diflkultics  con- 
nected with  these  proposals,  but  they  put  no  alTront 
on  our  sense  of  fair  dealing.  So  far  as  we  can  believe 
that  socialism,  once  in  power,  would  "take  over"  the 
mills,  mines  and  other  industries  with  the  same  con- 
sideration toward  present  ownership,  we  could  all  look 
on  unalarmed,  except  as  we  doubted  the  later  results 
of  such  a  policy. 

If,  then,  socialism  wins  power  enough,  will  the  de- 
termining majorities  vote  as  fairly  as  these  soberer 
adherents  now  talk?  That  is  not  a  frivolous  inquiry. 
There  are  not  merely  "five-foot  libraries,"  but  ton- 
foot  libraries  tilled  wiih  very  different  opinions  as  to 
how  the  great  private  properties  arc  to  be  taken  over. 
Socialists  generally  do  not  suggest  taking  them  with- 
out "some"  return.  If  for  no  other  reason,  they 
hesitate  because  of  the  practical  political  difficulties 
sure  to  attend  an  outright  confiscation.  "Even  if 
right,  it  would  not  be  politic,"  is  a  very  common  sen- 
tence. Very  carefully  the  question  of " lio-u)''  is  avoided 
by  this  large  intermediate  section.  Again  and  again 
we  read,  "It  must  be  left  to  the  future;"  "We  will 
cross  that  bridge  when  we  get  to  it;"  which  means 
that  the  dominating  political  opinion  of  that  future  will 
decide  how  little  ur  how  much  shall  be  paid  to  prcs- 


^1 

'i 

i 


in 

lit'' 


i 


ii 


II 

lit. I 
i  i 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


!-.|. 


ent  private  holders  of  the  desired  "means  of  produc- 
tion." This  tempered  discretion  of  the  "  moderates  " 
does  not  however  exhaust  ordinary  socialist  opinion. 
Long  before  we  reach  the  audacities  of  the  I.  W.  W.  on 
this  issue,  we  meet  throngs  of  those  in  good  party 
standing  who  make  short  shift  of  Fabyan  pruden- 
cies.  Among  those  who  have  dealt  repeatedly  and 
explicitly  with  this  issue  of  compensation  is  Belfort 
Bax,  a  man  of  learning  and  one  of  the  most  prolific  of 
socialist  writers.  In  his  volume  on  The  Ethics  oj 
Socialism  is  a  chapter  on  "Justice."  It  contains  this 
passage,  which  I  give  with  his  own  italics.  After  prov- 
ing to  his  own  satisfaction  that  the  "means  of  pro- 
duction" to  be  taken  over  "are  no  longer  in  the  hands 
of  the  producers,"  he  says: 

"Now,  Justice  being  henceforth  identified  with  con- 
fiscation and  injustice  with  the  rights  of  property, 
there  remains  only  the  question  of  'ways  and  means.' 
Our  bourgeois  apologist  admitting  as  he  must  that  the 
present  possessors  of  land  and  capital  hold  possession 
of  them  simply  by  right  of  superior  force,  can  hardly 
refuse  to  admit  the  right  of  the  proletariat  organized 
to  that  end  to  take  possession  of  them  by  righi  of 
superior  force.  The  only  question  remaining  is  how? 
And  the  only  answer  is  how  you  can.  Get  what  you 
can  that  tends  in  the  right  direcrion,  by  parliamentary 
means  or  otherwise,  Men  entcndu,  the  right  direction 
meaning  that  which  curtails  the  capitalist's  power  of 
exploitation.  If  you  choose  to  ask  further  how  one 
would  like  it,  the  reply  is  so  far  as  the  present  writer 
is  concerned,  one  would  like  it  to  rome  as  drastically 
as  possible,  as  the  moral  effect  of  sudden  expropria- 


^■ 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST     183 


m 


tion  would  be  much  greater  than  that  of  any  gradual 
process." 

Very  coolly  in  his  well-filled  library  he  takes  the  logic 
of  his  own  analysis.  Capital  secured  its  booty  through 
force.  Injustice  is  the  name  for  present  "rights  of 
property."  Justice  will  be  restored  when  labor  comes 
to  its  senses,  taking  from  every  proud  cut-purse  the 
treasures  so  long  withheld  from  the  labor  that  pro- 
duced them.  It  is  true  that  Jaurcs,  Kautsky,  Bern- 
stein, Shaw,  the  Webbs,  H.  G.  Wells,  and  others  who 
have  international  recogniiion,  commit  themselves  to 
compensation— Bernstein  and  the  Webbs  most  un- 
equivocally— but  close  scrutiny  of  the  other  three  who 
have  commanding  influence  is  perplexing.  Jaurds 
writes :  * 

"We  do  not  propose  to  adopt  any  violent  or  sudden 
measures  against  those  whosf^  position  is  now  sanc- 
tioned by  law,  we  are  resolved,  in  the  interests  of  a 
peaceful  and  harmonious  evolution,  to  bring  about 
the  transition  from  legal  injustice  to  legal  justice  with 
the  greatest  possible  consideration  for  the  individuals 
who  are  now  privileged  monopolists.  We  especially 
state  that  in  our  opinion  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  give  an  indemnity  to  those  whose  interests  will  be 
injured  by  the  necessary  abolition  of  laws  contrary  to 
the  common  good  in  so  far  as  this  indemnity  is  con- 
sistent vjith  the  interests  of  the  nation  as  a  whole." 

These  last  words  (the  italics  my  own)  are  not  with- 
out humor.  Compensation  "consistent  with  the 
interests  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,"  has  to  be  inter- 
preted by  political  majorities.  The  convenient  elas- 
» Studies  in  Socialism,  p.  89. 


I 


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184 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


ticity  of  his  qualifying  clause  has  the  more  significance 
because  this  greatest  of  socialist  orators  is  reported  to 
have  said,  as  recently  as  1906,  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  that  it  was  not  possible  to  tell  with  certainty 
"\V1;!  ether  general  expropriation  of  capitalistic  prop- 
erty would  be  brought  about  with  or  without  com- 
pensation." If  his  decision  is  finally  against  com- 
pensation, what  torn  shred  would  he  leave  to  any 
arguing  opponent  begging  the  audience  to  adopt 
slower  and  more  conservative  measures? 

Though  Mr.  Wells  in  his  New  Worlds  for  C^d  (p.  162) 
commits  himself  fervently  to  compensation  and  even 
insists  that  "property  is  not  robbery,"  he  has,  like 
Jaures,  other  moods.  In  his  Misery  of  Boots  he  has 
this  passage : 

"And  as  for  taking  such  property  from  the  owners, 
why  shouldn't  we?  The  world  has  not  only  in  the  past 
taken  slaves  from  their  owners,  with  no  compensation 
or  with  meager  compensation;  but  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  dark  as  it  is,  there  are  innumerable  cases  of 
slave  owners  resigning  their  inhuman  rights.  .  .  . 
There  are,  no  doubt,  a  numbe-  of  dull,  base,  rich  peo- 
ple who  hate  and  dread  socialism  for  purely  selfish 
reasons;  but  it  is  quite  possible  to  be  a  property  owner 
and  yet  be  anxious  to  see  socialism  come  into  its 
own.  .  .  .  Though  I  deny  the  right  to  compensation, 
I  do  not  deny  its  probable  advisability.  So  far  as  the 
question  of  method  goes  it  is  quite  conceivable  that 
we  may  partially  compensate  the  property  owners 
and  make  ail  sorts  of  mitigating  arrangements  to 
avoid  cruelty  to  them  in  our  attempt  to  end  the  wider 
cruelties  of  today." 


THE   DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE   CAPITALIST 


i^'5 


In  the  heat  of  political  appeal  which  of  these  t\V(. 
moods  will  prove  the  better  vote  getter? 

If  Mr.  Wells  himself  before  an  audience  were  tilting 
with  an  adversary  more  "advanced"  than  he,  what 
chances  would  his  negative  "advisability"  get  in  the 
decision?  First  to  deny  the  right  to  compensation  and 
then  with  skittish  half-heartedness,  to  talk  about  its 
"probable"  advisability  is  to  make  easy  work  for  the 
answering  opponent. 

More  strictly  of  the  Marx  tradition,  it  is  doubtful  if 
any  living  writer  carries  more  weight  than  Karl  Kaut- 
sky.    In  the  second  part  of  Tfie  Social  Revolution  he  is 
very  explicit:  "The  money  capitalist  fulfills  no  per- 
sonal function  in  the  social  life,  and  can  without  diffi- 
culty be  at  once  expropriated.    This  will  be  all  the 
more  readily  done  as  it  is  this  portion  of  the  capitalist 
class,  the  financier,  who  is  most  superfluous,  and  who 
is  continually  usurping  domination  over  the  whole 
economic  Ufe."    The  word  "capitalist"  is  here  used 
with  precision  as  the  receiver  of  interest.    Like  the 
landowner,  as  distinct  from  the  working  farmer,  he 
is  here  held  to  be  a  parasite  living  oH  the  laborer  and 
has  the  same  excuse  for  being  as  any  other  dead-beat. 
Why,  then,  should  those  holding  such  views  consent 
to  indemnify  mere  idlers?   In  the  tug  of  politics,  every 
extremist  will  show  what  real  indemnity  means.    It 
means  a  huge  issue  of  bonds  thrown,  as  an  interest- 
bearing  debt,  upon  the  people.    Having  been  thor- 
oughly instructed  by  socialism,  that  interest  to  private 
persons  is  theft,  will  they  take  kindly  to  this  self- 
imposed  burden,  even  if  only  during  the  life  of  the 
bondholder? 


;  X 


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AMKRICAN   SYNDICALISM 


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In  our  own  country,  there  are  few  abler  or  more  in- 
structed socialist  writers  than  Mr.  Hillquit.  He  is 
now  under  violent  attack  by  the  I.  W.  W.  press  and 
other  revolutionaries  as  a  "stoggy  conservative,"  a 
"timid  moss-back."  In  his  last  book  he  thus  states 
the  case: ^ 

"And  similarly  silent  is  the  socialist  program  on  the 
question  whether  the  gradual  expropriation  of  the 
possessing  classes  will  be  accomplished  by  a  process  of 
confiscation  or  by  the  method  of  compensation.  The 
greater  number  of  socialist  writers  incline  towards  the 
latter  assumption,  but  in  that  they  merely  express 
their  individual  present  preferences.  Social  develop- 
ment, and  especially  social  revolutions,  are  not  in  the 
habit  of  consulting  cut  and  dried  theories  evolved  by 
philosophers  of  past  generations,  and  social  justice  is 
more  frequently  a  question  of  social  expediency  and 
class  power.  The  French  clergy  was  not  compensated 
for  the  lands  taken  from  it  by  the  bourgeois  revolu- 
tion, and  the  Russian  noblemen  and  American  slave 
owners  were  not  compensated  upon  the  emancipation 
of  their  serfs  and  chattel  slaves.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
in  countries  in  which  the  social  transformation  will 
be  accomplished  peacefully,  the  state  will  compensate 
the  expropriated  proprietors,  while  every  violent 
revolution  ^vill  be  followed  by  confiscation.  The 
socialists  are  not  much  concerned  about  this 
issue." 

This  writer  has  excellent  legal  training;  has  been  a 
mayor's  legal  advisor  in  a  considerable  city.  In  his 
analogies  of  the  French  clergy,  Russian  nobles  and 

'  Socialism.    In  Theory  and  Fratlice,  lyio,  p.  103. 


■■■Jt'       '  r  ■    ''■-.■■^•' 

1*?        'ii.   .   -'Crl'ir  '■■. 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST     187 

American  slave  owners,  and  his  closing  assurance  that 
socialists  "are  not  much  concerned  about  this  issue," 
we  may  test  with  some  fairness  a  far  larger  opinion 
than  his  own.  Mr.  Hillquit  has  served  with  distinc- 
tion on  the  National  Executive  Committee  of  his 
party.  That  the  I.  W.  W.  should  see  in  him  so  hopeless 
a  conservative,  gives  us  some  hint  of  what  this  more 
revolutionary  contingent  would  do  with  "methods  of 
compensation." 

A  writer  and  teacher  of  deserved  distinction,  C. 
Hanford  Henderson,  writes  his  socialist  book  Pay- 
Day,  to  show  why  profit  is  theft.    The  motto  on  the 
fly  leaf  reads,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal;"  but  as  the 
thieves  have  been  the  receivers  of  "profit,"  this  moral 
warning  cannot  apply  to  those  who  are  now  to  enter 
into  possession  of  their  own.     Mr  Henderson  says, 
"The  trust  is  a  conscious  violation  of  the  Federal  law. 
It  is,  moreover,  built  up  out  of  stolen  labor-power. 
On  either  count,  the  trust  might  with  perfect  justice 
and  propriety  be  directly  confiscated  by  the  State.    It 
is  both  contrabrand  and  stolen  property."    He  con- 
cedes that  this  is  "a  harsh  measure,"  and  therefore 
tempers  his  surgery: "  It  might  readily  be  enacted  that 
any  further  transfer  of  stocks  and  bonds  would  be 
illegal  and  void,  and  that  when  the  present  owners 
died,  the  State  should  inherit  their  holdings.    In  this 
way  the  transfer  from  private  to  public  ownership 
would   be   accomplished   gradually   and   peacefully, 
without  hardship  to  any  actual  owner  of  such  se- 
curities.   His  heirs  would,  of  course,  be  di.'^appointed. 
But  if  it  be  granted  that  the  living  owner  had  no  de- 
fensible right  to  such  securities,  it  would  be  a  sen- 


I 

f 

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41 


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1 88 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


timcntalism  to  allow  him  to  .  ly  what  shall  be  done 
with  them  after  his  death." 

What,  I  ask,  is  it  probable  th-i*^  popular  majorities 
would  decide  on  the  case  as  here  prv  rented?  The  prop- 
erty to  be  taken  over  was  first  gained  in  "conscious 
violation  of  the  Federal  law."  It  is  all  "stolen  labor- 
power"  and  could  be  "confiscated  by  the  State"  with 
"perfect  justice."  Could  any  eloquent  foe  of  compen- 
sation have  a  better  case  than  this?  What  would 
one  possessed  of  the  passion  of  a  great  tribune  do  with 
the  hesitations  and  apologies  of  more  conservative 
men  as  they  met  in  popular  debate? 

From  the  whole  nebulous  zone  of  wobbly  socialist 
opinions  on  compensation,  we  may  now  pass  to  the 
I.  W.  W.  where  there  is  neither  variableness  nor  shadow 
of  turning.  There  is  little  enough  harmony  in  syndical- 
ist ideas  on  many  points,  but  that  present  capitalist  pos- 
sessors got  their  belongings  through  what  in  last  analy- 
sis is  fraud  and  force  is  a  fixed  and  vehement  belief. 
"Are  we  then  to  pay  market  values  or  any  values  to 
swindlers  and  highwaymen  who  have  lilched  our  prop- 
erties?" One  rarely  hears  a  more  effective  gallery 
stroke  than  this  question,  "Do  you  compensate  pick- 
pockets? "  "  Do  you  piously  discuss  financial  methods 
for  recompensing  the  man  who  lifted  your  watch  or 
stole  your  bicycle?"  I  have  many  times  listened  to 
discussions  of  this  question  of  compensation  before 
general  socialist  audiences.  "  Shall  capitalistic  owners 
be  paid?  If  so,  how  much?"  is  one  wording  that  I 
heard  discussed  between  conservative  and  radical 
socialists.  It  was  not  because  the  radical  had  more 
nimble  wit  or  keener  forensic  ability;  he  caught  and 


'■^f^.-'-i- 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST     189 

held  the  applause  because  he  forced  home  to  the  au- 
dience the  popular  logic  of  socialism:  "If  capitalism 
systematically  robs  us,  why  should  we  pay  for  what 
was  never  owned  at  all?"  By  so  far  as  this  belief  is 
real,  that  labor  has  been  fleeced,  to  that  extent  com- 
pensation is  likely  to  fare  ill. 

It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  socialists  in  control 
must  decide  their  economic  and  administrative  pol- 
icies politically.  Heads  of  departments  must  be  politi- 
cally chosen,  fiscal  and  other  measures  likewise  carried 
out  by  some  form  of  majority  vote. 

I  was  told  on  the  Alaska  boat  "Spokane"  that  Cap- 
tain Carroll  had  a  petition  presented  to  him  begging 
that  some  change  of  route  be  allowed.  He  replied, 
"Madame,  this  boat  is  not  run  by  petition."  That, 
under  socialism,  things  are  to  be  "democractically 
managed"  is  an  accepted  definition.  Every  question 
of  "compensation"  must  be  "democratically"  deter- 
mined. At  popular  gatherings  opinion  must  be  made 
then  as  it  is  now.  Audiences  must  be  warned  and  ex- 
horted to  vote  for  this  or  that  measure.  The  last 
demagogue  will  not  die  with  capitalism. 

In  an  imagined  picture  of  one  of  those  future  audi- 
ences discussing  what  should  be  paid  to  the  owners  of 
the  last  ripening  "trust,"— which  of  two  socialist 
speakers,  one  conservative  and  one  radical,  will  have 
the  surest  hold  upon  the  listening  majority? 

I  do  not  press  this  as  unanswerable,  but  it  deserves 
reflection.  In  all  democratic  uprisings  the  easy  ad- 
vantage of  the  more  radical  man  has  been  noted  since 
Aristotle.  Is  it  likely  to  be  less  so  when  the  whole 
logic  of  democracy  has  become  complete?    I  submit- 


'•H 


II 


MM 


M 


\  .f.  "! 


190 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


1 


J 


ted  this  to  a  thoughtful  socialist  now  defending  the 
I.  W.  W.  He  replied  that  a  generation  or  two  of  ex- 
perience and  better  education  would  produce  a  democ- 
racy competent  and  self-restrained  enough  to  deal 
wisely  and  fairly  with  such  issues  as  compensation. 
This  is  possible,  and  we  do  well  to  entertain  it  as  a 
generous  and  admirable  hope. 

Meantime  the  I.  W.  W.  are  scoffingly  impatient  even 
of  these  prudent  qualifications.  They  tell  us,  "Cap- 
italism is  already  ripe  almost  to  rotting."  Like  a  dead 
substance,  it  is  something  from  which  we  are  to  cut 
ourselves  loose.  Both  in  precept  and  example  they  are 
very  specific.  Their  ablest  exponents  now  state  their 
case  in  the  monthly  International  Socialist  Review.  In 
the  last  issue  in  my  possession,  a  writer  in  the  interest 
of  "Simplicity"  puts  the  case  as  follows: 

"The  world's  people  belong  to  or  support  one  of  the 
two  great  classes,  capitalists  or  workers. 

"  What  have  we  got.-'  Nothing.  What  have  they 
got?    Everything. 

"  Now  we  want  it.    Simple,  isn't  it? 

"We  demand  all  they've  got.  Why?  Because  they 
have  stolen  it  from  us.  We  are  the  disinherited  of  the 
earth  and  we  are  getting  ready  to  take  back  what  be- 
longs to  us. 

"They  told  us  in  the  beginning  that  there  was  a 
chance  for  all.    Now  we  know  that  they  lied. 

"  We  have  become  wise  to  the  fact  that  we  are  the 
victims,  the  suckers,  the  fallguys,  in  the  greatest  bunco 
game  ever  invented.  We  put  all  we  had  into  it — our 
health,  our  hopes,  our  strength  and  power  to  labor — 
but  everything  went  merely  to  make  them  richer  and 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST 


191 


Stronger.    The  result  is  that  they  are  the  owners  of 
everything  that  makes  life  worth  living. 

"  We  want  it  back.  Now  how  are  we  going  to  get 
it? 

"Ask  them  for  it?  They  would  hand  us  the 
laugh. 

"Buy  it  from  them?  It  never  belonged  to  them  in 
the  first  place— no,  we  are  going  to  take  it. 

"Take  it  how?  By  force?  No,  not  necessarily.  By 
bullets?  We  are  not  so  foolish.  We  have  the  power 
already.  We  far  outnumber  them  and  our  brains, 
when  used,  are  as  good  as  theirs.  Therefore,  we  will 
organize  our  power  and  use  our  brains  in  our  own  be- 
half hereafter  instead  of  theirs.  When  the  workers 
are  once  solidly  united  the  system  by  which  the  cap- 
italists daily  rob  us  of  the  fruits  of  our  toil  will  simply 
fall  of  its  own  weight." 

A  leaflet,  the  Noon  Hour  Chat,  sent  out  by  the 
socialist  section  closest  akin  to  the  I.  W.  W.  ends  with 
these  words: 

"Precedents  from  American  history  are  all  against 
the  theory  of  compensation  to  capitalist  owners.  The 
thirteen  American  colonies  having  asserted  their  inde- 
pendence had  no  scruples  about  'confiscating'  to 
themselves  millions  of  acre-,  of  land  hitherto  vested  in 
the  British  crown.  The  North  had  no  scruples  in 
confiscating  property  valued  at  one  billion  dollars, 
when  it  freed  the  chattel  slave. 

"Capitalism  comes  into  court  with  dirty  hands 
when  it  crys  'Confiscation!'  From  the  time  it  un- 
justly confiscated  the  rights  of  the  peasants  in  the 
land,  down  to  our  own  time  when  it  has  virtually 


If 


' 


If 


'  4  i\ 


M 


#ti 


193 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


ii'f 


}:: 


I-   V     J 


1. 


confiscated  the  entire  wealth  of  the  nation,  and  con- 
tinuously confiscates  in  a  variety  of  ways  the  property 
of  the  middle  class,  capitalism  has  one  long  record  of 
rapine,  bloodshed  and  wholesale  theft. 

''The  verdict  of  the  court,  of  the  working  class,  or- 
ganized and  aware  of  its  mission,  that  will  yet  thunder 
forth  to  capitalism  will  be:  Restore  to  us,  the  People, 
that  which  is  rightfully  ours  and  which  you  have 
stolen. 

•'There  will  be  no  'compensation'  about  it.  Such 
is  the  answer  of  the  Socialist  Labor  Party."  * 

Here  owners  and  non-owners  stand  over  against  each 
other  as  robbers  and  robbed.  Labor,  the  creator  of 
wealth,  has  "Nothing."  Capitalistic  owners  have 
"Everything."  Therefore  labor  demands  "all  they 
have  got."  "  Why?  Because  they  have  stolen  it  from 
us."  We  are  left  in  doubt  about  the  use  of ''  force  "  in 
this  transfer.  It  may  not  be  "  necessary."  Labor  once 
"  solidly  united  "  will  find  that  the  whole  capitalistic 
system  "  will  simply  fall  of  its  own  weight." 

From  observations  submitted  in  the  last  chapter, 
the  conclusion  is  fairly  safe  that  these  brisk  iconoclasts 
will  not  have  their  way.  They  will  not  have  it,  be- 
cause so  many  of  the  working  class  have  too  much  at 
stake.  They  will  not  have  it,  because  it  will  be  seen 
to  be  neither  fair  nor  safe.  They  will  not  have  it, 
because  other  methods  are  now  slowly  appearing 
through  which  the  evils  of  capitalism  can  be  met  with 
decency  and  good  faith. 

Before  the  century  is  out,  ways  will  be  found, 
largely  through  more  intelligent  taxation,  to  squeeze 

^  This  is  to  be  sharply  distinguished  from  the  Sociahst  Party. 


" tM   ..     JC" 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAPITALIST 


l<Ai 


out  enormous  res.  rvcs  of  unearned  increment.  This 
reasoned  policy  is  a  working  part  of  the  advanced 
social  politics  in  so  many  countries  as  to  oiTer  a  more 
honorable  escape  from  "the  armored  inequalities" 
against  which  the  protest  comes. 


'■:  I 


X 


iji 


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.t^ 


I 


XVI 

CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 

We  have  seen  that  Syndicalists  have  lost  faith  in  the 
halting  legalities  of  political  and  reform  action.  They 
move  straight  upon  the  enemy.  They  say  bluntly 
that  the  capitalist  and  present  business  managers 
are  incompetent  for  their  work.  In  an  article  by  an 
English  Syndicalist,  which  I  have  twice  seen  quoted  in 
our  I.  W.  W.  literature,  occurs  this  passage: 

"Leave  us,  you  'captains  of  industry,'  if  you  cannot 
manage  the  industries  so  as  to  give  us  a  living  wage 
and  security  of  employment.  Go!  if  you  are  so  short- 
sighted and  so  incapable  of  coming  to  a  common 
understanding  among  yourselves,  that  you  rush  like 
a  flock  of  sheep  into  every  new  branch  of  production 
which  promises  you  the  greatest  momentary  profits, 
regardless  of  the  usefulness  or  noxiousness  of  the  goods 
you  produce  in  that  branch!  Go,  if  you  are  incapable 
of  building  your  fortunes  otherwise  than  by  preparing 
interminable  wars,  and  squandering  a  good  third  of 
what  is  produced  by  every  nation  in  armaments  for 
robbing  other  robbers.  Go!  if  all  that  you  have 
learned  from  the  marvelous  discoveries  of  modern 
science  is  that  you  see  no  other  way  of  obtaining  one's 
well-being  but  out  of  that  squalid  misery  to  which 
one-third  of  the  population  of  the  great  cities  of  this 
extremely  wealthy  country  are  condemned.  Go!  and 
*a  plague  o'  both  your  houses'  if  that  is  the  only  way 

194 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 


I9S 


you  can  find  to  manage  industry  and  trade.  We, 
workmen,  will  know  better  how  to  organize  produc- 
tion, if  we  only  succeed  in  getting  rid  of  you,  the 
capitalist  pest!" 

Capitalists  can  still  make  profit  for  themselves  and 
their  friends,  but  the  disenchanted  Syndicalist  denies 
that  this  is  "good  business."  He  will  call  no  business 
"good"  that  does  not  enrich  the  people  as  a  whole. 
This  is  his  measure  of  "ability"  and  there  is  much  to 
be  said  for  this  view.  The  really  able  man  will  so 
conduct  aflfairs  as  to  help  others  as  much  as  himself. 
Capitalism  it  is  said,  now  in  its  decadence,  makes  this 
inclusive  service  less  and  less  possible.  Labor  must 
therefore  itself  take  over  the  job. 

The  actual  industry  to  be  chosen  is  estion  of 
time,  place  and  practical  expediency,  but  .e  idea  be- 
comes plain  in  the  Post  Office  strike  in  Paris  in  1910, 
while  the  practice  has  actual  embodiment  in  specific 
cooperative  triumphs  now  among  our  proved  expe- 
riences. No  one  has  better  stated  this  idea  in  its 
highest  expression  than  the  Syndicalist,  Odon  Por. 
He  seems  to  assume  that  years  of  trade  union  disci- 
pline with  a  developed  "class- conscious"  sense,  must 
precede  even  an  intelligent  plan  of  operation.  It  is 
assumed  that  the  unions  have  passed  through  the 
guerrilla  stage  of  strikes,  learning  both  their  strength 
and  weakness.  In  his  words:  "When  the  workers 
have  attained  the  highest  technical  skill  and  efficiency; 
when  they  are  able  and  ready  actually  to  run  their 
industries,  ready  with  their  perfected  organization 
and  their  skilled  professional  individuality,  they  will 
then  take  them  over."    When  I  asked  an  I.  W.  W. 


li 


'■n 


196 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


M 


h 


lecturer  what  business  in  the  United  States  would 
answer  to  the  above  condition,  he  replied  that  our 
railroads  already  lad  unions,  with  technical  knowl- 
edge enough  among  engineers  and  in  the  shops  to  take 
over  and  run  the  system  "  within  a  very  few  years." 
He  thought  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  already 
equipped  to  run  the  mines  and  that  the  big  breweries 
had  a  labor  organization  [)owerful  enough  and  tech- 
nical equipment  so  advanced  that  they  might  easily 
pass  from  capitalist  to  lalfir  management.  Much  of 
the  electrical  work  he  believed  to  be  in  the  same 
hopeful  stage  of  transition. 

He  made  much  of  the  familiar  suggestion  that  the 
general  trust  development  had  proved  already  that 
the  biggest  business  can  be  run  by  those  who  have 
developed  within  the  business  and  are  hired  by  the 
outside  capitalist.  "If  they  will  do  it  for  the  capital- 
ists, they  will  do  it  for  all  of  us."  To  the  redoubtable 
question  as  to  how  these  enterprises  were  to  be 
financed,  he  replied  that  a  few  years  more  of  increas- 
ing unrest,  strikes  becoming  more  and  more  general, 
interspersed  with  the  gaieties  of  sabotage,  would  make 
capitalistic  investments  so  uncertain  and  insecure 
that  the  outside  capitalist  would  tire  of  the  game. 
"The  financier,"  he  said,  "docs  not  realize  in  the 
least  how  hard  we  are  going  to  make  it  for  him  to  run 
these  things  in  the  old  way." 

According  to  Odon  Por  it  is  a  great  step  toward  the 
new  order  that  the  clerical  force  in  the  French  Post 
Office  has  lost  confidence  in  the  official  political  man- 
.ngement.  Tn  hi=.  own  words:  "The  employees  were 
tired  of  being  directed  and  dominated  by  a  political 


*r-T 


'^^r^jT 


CONSTRICTIVK  SUOdESTION 


'Q7 


department  adininistertd  by  politicians  who  had  no 
comprehension  of  the  work  of  the  Post  Otlicc  clerk, 
nor  indeed  of  the  work  in  general."  The  department 
can  now  be  better  run  "without  ofTiciaLs  retained  at 
hi^h  salaries,  holding  their  positions  because  of 
political  influence,  though  destitute  of  the  least  expert 
knowledge  of  the  business."  Everything  that  con- 
cerns the  Post  OfTice  is  known  by  the  total  body  of 
workers  who  now  carry  it  on.  Why  then  should  the 
entire  management  be  refused  them? 

The  Syndicalist  argues  against  "throwing  the  rail- 
ways into  politics,"  as  briskly  and  contidently  as  the 
averaji.  inerican  business  man.  He  has  only  contempt 
for  Government  ownership  as  now  practiced.  To  these 

volutionaries,  the  railroad  in  possession  of  any  [)res- 
ent  government  may  be  as  viciously  capitalistic  as  in 
private  hands,  besides  being  badly  managed.  Italy  has 
taken  over  the  roads  and  so  badly  bungles  them  as  to 
rouse  the  same  jeers,  according  to  Odon  Por,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Ficnch  Post  OfTice.  He  says  a  very  power- 
ful Industrial  Union  is  now  established  on  government 
roads.  These  include  practically  all  except  the  more 
highly  paid  officials.   Of  the  aim  of  this  Union,  he  says: 

"By  its  method  of  organizing  according  to  the 
technical  nature  of  each  man's  occupation,  while  the 
problems  of  the  whole  service  are  kept  before  the 
mind  of  every  member  and  his  opinion  and  vote  called 
for  on  each,  the  men  are  educated  to  a  keen  interest 
in  everything  that  concerns  the  whole  work  of  the 
railways.  That  they  have  arrived  at  a  considerable 
degree  of  success  is  proved  by  the  f.act  that;  conf-cious 
of  their  increased  collective  power,  they  set  before 


:     i 


h¥ 


1'  L 
'If' 

fii 


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); 
h 


i^^llm^mtL^ 


198 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


.        I 


r'  1 


ink 


themselves  the  revolutionary  aim—'  The  Railways  for 
the  Railwaymen.' 

He  adds:  "The  technical  incompetence  of  the  bu- 
reaucratic administration  has  demoralized  the  sys- 
tem and  brought  about  a  growing  yearly  deficit  in  the 
returns.  Innumerable  sinecures  and  well-paid  offices 
were  established;  but  the  State  neglected  the  technical 
side,  and  with  increased  financial  burden  came  greater 
confusion  in  the  working. 

"On  the  other  hand,  through  their  organization  the 
workers  have  been  eagerly  learning  details  of  every 
kind  of  work  necessary  for  the  proper  effective  man- 
aging of  the  railways,  and  now  they  seek  to  get  con- 
trol over  their  administration,  so  as  to  manage  the 
railways  for  the  nation.  They  propose  to  do  this  as  a 
cooperative  society,  which  would  be  made  up  of  the 
members  of  th-^ir  union.  ..." 

He  quotes  conservative  economists  of  world-wide 
reputation  and  experts  such  as  Professor  Vilfredo 
Pareto  who  have  declared  that  the  one  practical 
solution  of  the  trouble  is,  since  private  ownership  is  a 
public  nvusance,  and  state  ownership  a  veritable 
disaster,  to  entrust  the  State  railways  to  the  coopera- 
tive enterprise  of  the  organized  railway-men.  It  is 
further  maintained  that  the  State  has  taken  the  first 
step  toward  this  end  in  its  law  of  191 1,  which  opeas 
the  way  for  a  partnership  with  the  unions,  so  far  as  to 
give  their  own  elected  representatives  a  voice  in 
management.  "The  Government,"  he  says,  "thus 
proved  its  recognition  of  the  fact  that  it  cannot  run 
the  railway  industry  efficiently  without  the  direct 
cooperation  and  advice  of  the  employ ee&." 


drri&l 


).m=^i^>;^::.'^ 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 


199 


Thus  far  we  have  to  do  with  the  syndicalist  purpose 
and  idea.  Through  the  word  "cooperative"  we  pass 
from  the  idea  to  its  proposed  appHcations  in  practice. 
This  constructive  suggestion  touches  anarchistic  and 
communist  ideals  long  familiar  to  us.  These  seek  to 
develop  local  autonomous  groups,  federated  "as 
necessity  arises,"  but  united  in  their  loathing  of  a 
centralized  bureaucratic  State.  These  decentralized 
activities  are  fo  preserve  for  the  individual  "the 
utmost  freedom  consistent  with  conditions  set  by 
these  voluntary  associations." 

This  suggestive  idealist  counts  upon  the  renaissance 
of  democratic  cooperation  to  further  this  end.  He 
illustrates  it  by  two  instances,  one  in  industry  and  the 
other  upon  the  land: 

"The  Bottle  Blowers'  Industrial  Union  of  Italy  has 
discovered  the  material,  technical,  commercial,  and 
moral  capacities  for  getting  hold,  within  a  compara- 
tively short  period  of  time,  of  the  biggest  share  of  the 
Italian  bottle  industry,  and  sooner  or  later  it  will 
undoubtedly  run  the  whole  industry  through  its  co- 
operatives." 

"The  force  which  these  workers  have  substituted 
for  individual  and  associated  capitahst  initiative, 
namely,  the  collective  effort  and  efficiency  of  their 
organized  class,  foreshadows  to  SyndicaUsts  the  future, 
with  its  economic  progress  and  continuously  growing 
moral  improvement." 

In  agriculture,  the  basic  industry  of  Italy,  the 
same  factors  are  at  work  on  a  much  larger  scale.  Here 
he  tells  us  some  200,000  acres  have  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  farm  laborers  organized  into  unions  and 


■i 


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2<X) 


AMERICA  -   SYNDICALISM 


P 


cooperative  societies.  Through  industrial  organiza- 
tions and  Sociahst  education  the  agricultural  laborers 
acquired  the  power,  the  technical  capacity,  and  the 
moral  energies  to  fight  for,  obtain,  and  run  their 

industry. 

These  last  lines  contain  the  gist  of  these  winged 
hopes.  Through  the  technical  and  moral  develop- 
mert  of  the  trade  union,  labor  is  to  enter  into  posses- 
sion of  one  important  industry  after  another.  It  is  to 
do  tiiis  by  proving  its  technical  and  moral  superiority 
over  capitalism  already  dying  before  our  eyes. 

We  here  have  the  syndicalist  view  of  the  laborer  as 
the  creating  unit  that  lives  and  has  his  being  inside 
the  machinery  of  production.     He  is  in  the  mine, 
factory,  shop,  ship,  and  bank.     Here  his  skill  and 
faculty  develop.    On  this  basis  his  trade  union  is  to 
rest.    It  is  the  primary  industrial  cell.    It  is  to  be 
built  into  federations  with  delegates  that  shall  rep- 
resent the  whole  industrial  life.    To  the  minutest  part 
these,  and  these  only,  know   the  process  through 
which  foods,  stuffs,  metals,  are  made.    It  is  these  real 
creators  who  also  carry  all  products  to  the  consumer. 
Here,  then,  should  be  the  seats  of  power.   What  is  now 
called  politics  will  be  remade.    With  the  workers  once 
enthroned,   politics  will  express  the  administrative 
necessities  of  the  new  order  in  v/hich  "none  shall  live 
except  by  work."     Youth,  age,  infirmity,  shall  be 
cared  for,  as  under  socialism,  by  direct  appropriations 
from  the  social  product.    But  investments,  interest, 
profits,  rent,  and  all  inheriting  of  these  values,  are  to 
be  stopped,  in  order  that  loafers,  rich  and  poor  alike, 
shall  have  an  end. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 


201 


In  the  syndicalist  vision  cooperative  groups  furnish 
the  higher  efficiencies  before  which  the  private  profit- 
maker  can  no  longer  hold  his  own.  The  capitalist  is 
to  be  crowded  out  because  of  inefficiency  and  this  can 
be  shown  through  the  object  lessons  which  cooperation 
now  offers. 

I  have  dealt  at  length  with  this  writer,  because  no 
one  known  to  me  has  put  the  case  with  more  coherence 
or  on  the  same  high  level.  If  we  can  accept  him  as 
authoritative  spokesman,  there  "s  no  more  danger  in 
his  proposals  than  in  a  new  kind  of  Sunday  school  or  a 
new  breakfast  food.  We  have  only  to  watch  and 
satisfy  ourselves  that  his  trade  unions  "functioning 
through  cooperation,"  really  display  the  superiorities 
claimed  for  them.  If  they  should  perform  their 
various  services  with  higher  social  benefit  they  are 
surely  not  to  be  feared. 

It  is  true  that  many  European  cities  have  found 
distinct  advantages  in  letting  out  various  kinds  of 
work — like  paving,  drainage,  printing — to  cooperative 
groups.  Italy  has  produced  a  type  of  self-organizing 
gang  electing  its  own  foreman  and  doing  job-work 
(in  which  the  labor  cost  is  high)  cooperatively.  Hun- 
dreds of  these  have  proved  so  successful  that  Govern- 
ment and  cities  give  them  preferential  advantages. 
The  Societies  are  registered  and  work  in  small  gangs. 
As  elsewhere,  experiment  has  shown  that  discipline 
becomes  too  ditlicult  with  larger  numbers.  One  often 
finds  the  cooperative  store  affiliated  with  this  working 
plan.  The  profits  of  each  gang  go  to  no  outsider,  but 
automatically  to  themselves  when  the  job  is  done. 
They  have  built  city  slaughter  houses  and  made  whole 


K  ^'\ 


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202 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


i'^ 


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Streets  in  Parma.  The  Minister  Luzzatti  gave  them 
his  active  sympathy  and  helped  them  to  the  uses  of 
the  cooperative  banks,  of  which  he  was  founder. 

Is  there  here  the  germ  from  which  the  future  Com- 
monwealth may  spring?  Taken  together  with  many 
thousands  of  other  cooperative  forms  in  agriculture, 
banking,  distribution  and  production,  it  offers  the 
fairest  hopes  for  the  democratic  management  of  busi- 
ness that  actual  experience  can  show.  Ordinary 
"State  Socialism"  is  much  less  democratic  than  the 
free  activities  of  workingmen's  cooperation. 

What  charms  "  the  higher  syndicaUsm"  i.  oopera- 
tion  is  that  it  eUminates  the  master.  Tb-:  Italian 
"braccianti"  and  "muratori"  have  no  boss  except  of 
their  own  electing.  If  they  need  a  technical  engineer, 
he  comes  as  their  fellow  counsellor  and  peer,  never  as 
a  "boss."  The  gang  substitutes  its  own  supervision 
for  that  of  an  employer  and  also  takes  the  risks.  If 
one  can  imagine  the  worid's  chief  business  done 
through  such  voluntary  groups,  they  would  displace 
the  bureaucratic  State  hated  by  all  Syndicalists. 

In  this  manner,  Kropotkin's  shining  dream  would  be 
fulfilled.  In  loosely  federated  groups,  men  and  women 
would  do  their  work  like  artists  and  men  of  science. 
There  would  be  no  enslaving  trusts,  bat  "  small  factories 
and  upon  the  land,  such  intensive  culture  as  science  now 
makes  possible."  This  thought  has  long  hovered  in 
the  minds  of  Anarchists  of  the  Kropotkin  type.^ 

» As  this  goes  to  press,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  .jublish  a  cheap  up- 
to-date  edition  of  Kropotkin's  Fields,  Factories  and  Workshops 
in  which  this  faith  in  the  "decentralization  of  industries;"  the  "com- 
bination of  industry  and  agriculture"  has  the  most  inteUigent  anu 
inspiring  expression  yet  given  it. 


^M^^m?7 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 


203 


Even  in  our  country,  as  early  as  1883,  it  appeared 
in  anarchist  "Principles,"  the  second,  third,  and 
sixth  articles  of  which  read  as  follows: 

"Establishment  of  a  free  society  based  upon  co- 
operative organization  of  production. 

"Free  exchange  of  equivalent  products  by  and  be- 
tween the  productive  organizations  without  commerce 
and  profit-mongery. 

"Regulation  of  all  public  affairs  by  free  contracts 
between  the  autonomous  (independent)  communes 
and  associations  resting  on  a  federalistic  basis." 

Neither  in  the  literature  nor  in  many  conversations, 
have  I  ever  got  the  slightest  convincing  intimation  as 
to  how  these  "loosely  federated  unions"  are  to  work 
in  the  indispensable  exchange  of  products  in  the 
world  market.  The  highly  trained  expert,  we  are 
told,  is  to  play  a  great  part.  These  skilled  persons  in 
the  various  industries  are  to  "represent"  such  social 
organization  as  exists.  This  revives  an  idea  on  which 
pubhcists  have  speculated  for  a  half  century — 
"representation  by  interests,"— schoolmasters,  manu- 
facturers, farmers,  miners,  etc.,  each  to  choose  its  own 
representative.  It  is  a  conception,  if  largely  conceived, 
which  points  to  a  possible  political  structure  of  far 
higher  order,  but  nothing  could  so  surely  defeat  it  as 
the  fighting  methods  of  Syndicalism  based  on  the 
"class  war"  as  conceived  by  American  Syndicalists. 
The  harsh  aggressiveness  with  which  our  I.  W.  W. 
insist  upon  this  leaves  every  constructive  feature 
almost  a  burlesque. 

For  example,  on  the  basis  of  Traut'riacn's  pamphlet, 
One  Big  Union,  a  chart  has  been  drawn  of  the  future 


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204 


AMF.KICAN   SYNDICALISM 


industrial  system.  It  gmcrously  includes  the  entire 
globe,  thus  o{)ening  new  floodgates  for  more  merciless 
competition.  It  will  have  nothing  to  do  witl  lines 
that  separate  states  or  nations.  The  plan  has  four 
great  departments: 

(i)  Agriculture  and  Fisheries. 

(2)  I»Ianufacture  and  Production. 

(3)  Mines. 

(4)  Construction. 

Each  of  these  is  subdivided— the  first  into  stock  and 
farming,  horticulture,  forestry,  and  fisheries;  mining 
into  those  who  work  in  coal  and  coke,  oil  and  gas, 
metals,  salt,  sulphur,  stone,  and  gems;  the  two  others 
likewise  with  more  minute  sub-divisions.  At  the 
center  is  the  scat  of  Administration  and  Communica- 
tion from  which  radia<^e  to  the  circumference  the  divi- 
sions of  Public  Service  and  Transportation,  with  all 
the  activities,  including  electric,  gas.  and  water 
supplies;  education,  health,  marine  and  air  navigation. 
Here  we  have  the  basis  of  labor  organizatior  which 
will  "correctly  represent  the  working  class."  It  com- 
bines all  wage-workers  "in  such  .1  way  that  it  can 
most  successfully  fight  the  battles  and  protect  the 
interests  of  the  working  people  of  today  in  their 
struggle  for  fewer  hours,  more  wages  and  better  condi- 
tions." It  also  offers  "a  final  solution  of  the  labor 
problem— an  emancipation  from  strikes,  injunctions, 
bull-pens  and  scabbing  of  one  against  the  other." 

We  are  told  finally  to  "observe  how  this  organiza- 
tion will  give  recognitii  -\  to  control  of  shop  affairs, 
provide  perfect  Industrial  Unionism,  and  converge  the 
strength  of  all  organized  workers  to  a  common  center, 


CONSTRUCTIVK   SUGGESTION 


^05 


from  which  any  weak  point  can  be  strengthened  and 
protected. 

"Observe,  also,  how  the  growth  and  development 
of  this  organization  will  build  up  within  itself  the 
structure  of  an  Industrial  Democracy  -a  Workers' 
Cooperative  Republic  -which  mu..t  finally  burst 
the  shell  of  capitalist  government,  and  be  the  agency 
by  which  the  workers  will  operate  the  industries,  and 
appropriate  the  products  to  themselves. 

"One  obligation  for  all. 

"A  union  man  once  and  in  one  industry,  a  union 
man  always  and  in  all  industries. 

"Universal  transfers. 

"Universal  emblem. 

"All  workers  of  one  industry  in  one  union;  all 
unions  of  workers  in  one  big  labor  alliance  the  world 
over." 

All  this  is  to  be  done  by  creating  a  sense  of  solidarity 
among  all  the  labor  units.  Every  selfish  trade  union 
is  to  lose  itself  in  a  larger  whole.  Because  men  work 
in  glass  or  leather,  they  are  not  to  call  their  unions 
after  the  tools  or  products  used.  '"  Agriculture,  for 
example,  would  gather  into  one  union.'' 

"All  farm  workers,  in  plowing,  planting,  reaping, 
and  fertilizing  operations— which  would,  of  course, 
include  all  engineers,  firemen,  blacksmiths,  repair- 
workers,  carpenters,  etc.,  working  on  farms  and  en- 
gaged in  farm-product  work.  All  workers  on  cotton 
and  sugar  plantations  would  come  into  this  j^ioup,  also 
all  irrigation-workers,  that  is,  all  working  at  the  opera- 
tion of  irrigation-systems  as  engineers,  pumpmen, 
lockmen,   pipe   and   repairmen,  etc.    On  cattle   and 


Ml! 


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3o6 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


J> 
14 


■*  ' 


live  stock  farms:  ranchmen,  herders,  sheep  shearers, 
general  utility  men,  all  workers  on  fowl  and  bird 
farms;  on  dairy  farms,  etc." 

Again  the  Department  of  Civil  Service  and  Public 
Conveniences  contains: 

(A)  Hospitals  and  sanitariums. 

(B)  Sanitary  protective  division. 

(C)  Educational  institutions. 

(D)  Water,  gas  and  electricity  supply  service. 

(E)  Amusement  service. 

(F)  General  distribution. 

This  would  merge  scores  of  craft  unions  that  had 
been  built  up  on  sectional  interests.  Against  this 
"curse  of  sectionalism"  the  Syndicalist  acts. 

It  is  a  curse  because  it  ^  ultivates  a  selfish  monopoly 
spirit.  "One  Big  Union "  in  each  industry,  ever  ready 
to  unite  with  those  in  other  industries,  is  the  remedy. 
With  this  perfected  solidarity  once  attained,  labor 
has  only  to  stop,  and  the  catastropl-  i  of  capitalism  is 
at  hand.  This  may  be  done  playfully  with  smiling 
lips  and  hands  in  pockets. 

What  Mr.  Trautmann's  pamphlet  has  done  is  to  give 
us  a  blurred  caricature  of  present  commercial  activi- 
ties in  the  world. ^  This  is  done  apparently  to  show 
pictorially  how  easily  the  "world  brotherhood  of 
labor"  may  be  instructed  to  oust  the  present  pos- 
sessors. 

From  Sir  Thomas  More  to  William  Morris,  we  have 
notliing  mor'  soaringly  Utopian  than  that  which  this 

1 1  am  told  that  in  the  Sixth  Convention  this  chart  has  now  been 
"entirely  made  over."  In  the  I.  W.  \V.  Solidarity,  Nov.  30,  191 2,  is 
a  long  and  critical  article  on  necessary  changes. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUGGESTION 


207 


chart  furnishes.  It  implies  heights  and  depths  of 
organization  of  which  our  present  despised  "state 
bureaucracy"  scarcely  gives  us  a  hint.  It  implies  a 
system  of  representation  and  a  politics  on  a  scale  far 
beyond  anything  which  now  exists.  If  this  charted 
dream  were  to  be  Utopia  (that  is,  "Nowhere"),  one 
would  greet  it  on  its  own  terms,  but  the  I.  W.  VV.  are 
above  all  bent  on  things  practical.  All  circuitous 
ways,  as  through  politics  and  parliaments,  are  not  for 
them.  It  is  "action"  that  educates  and  action  that 
frees  labor  from  its  chains.  Capitalism  is  now  so  far 
gone  that  its  dissolution  needs  only  to  be  hastened  by 
"direct  action,"  sabotage,  the  strike  in  every  phase, — 
local,  short,  and  quick,  sympathetic, — and  finally  the 
general  uprising.' 

The  childlike  simplicity  of  this  proposal  astonishes 
us  the  moie  because  it  seems  to  be  here  recognized, 
that  as  the  world  is  bound  closer  and  closer  together, 
exchange  of  products  must  go  on;  that  kinds, 
amounts,  terms  of  exchange,  have  in  some  way  to  be 
determined,  and  that  all  this  can  only  be  through 
boards  chosen  by  the  various  trades.  As  "the  Globe 
itself  is  to  be  one  brotherhood,"  international  affil- 


*9 


.1 


>: 


'  The  most  recent  statement  by  the  general  secretary  of  the  order 
reads: 

".\11  power  vests  in  the  general  lembership  through  the  initiative 
and  referendum  and  the  right  of  repeal  and  recall. 

"Universal  transfer  system  and  recognition  of  cards  of  union  work- 
ers of  all  countries;  one  initiation  fee  to  be  all  that  is  required,  and 
this  is  to  be  placed  at  such  a  figure  that  no  worker  will  be  prevented 
from  becoming  a  union  man  or  woman  because  of  its  amount. 

"A  universal  label,  badge,  button  and  membership  card,  thus  pro- 
motmg  the  idea  of  solidarity  and  unity  amongst  the  workers. — Soli- 
darity, }^n.  18,  1913." 


!    * 


« 


'■  i  }  f ' 


20S 


AMKRICAN  SYNDICALISM 


15      I 


4 


i 


iations    are    to    be   more  fluid   and   intimate   than 

ever. 

That  the  "point  of  production"  and  the  product 
are  to  be  miule  the  new  l)asis  of  reconstruction,  does 
not  free  us  an  atom  from  red-tai)e  complications  in- 
volved in  the  amount  of  organization  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  administrative  toil  incident  to  the 
management  of  a  world  market  by  the  "Grand  As- 
sembly composed  of  delegates  from  National  Unions." 
It  is  unthinkable  that  these  bodies  can  work  except 
through  committees  entrusted  with  large  powers.  It 
is  as  unthinkable  that  these  powers  can  be  exercised 
without  large  authority  and  a  good  deal  of  perma- 
nence of  tenure  in  ofBce. 

In  distant  industries,  will  those  restless  minorities, 
which  appear  wherever  human  beings  congregate, 
submit  to  such  authority  without  the  factional  resist- 
ance which  even  now  plagues  the  I.  W.  W.  to  the 
point  of  breaking?  There  is  even  less  warrant  for 
such  hope  because  Syndicalism  rests  so  confidently 
and  so  exclusively  on  economic  and  business  interests. 
These  are  not  primarily  the  harmonizing,  brother- 
making  forces  in  the  world. 

There  is  a  sentence  in  some  early  Christian  writer 
that  reads:  "We  believe  because  it  is  impossible." 
Of  this  portion  of  the  I.  W.  W.  belief  we  can  say  no 
less.  It  is  a  naive  faith  which  restores  again  an  almost 
forgotten  theology.  It  awaits  a  Day  of  Judgment  (for 
capitalism)  as  breathlessly  as  its  predecessors.  "Pre- 
destination" never  had  a  more  perfervid  utterance 
in  spitr"  nf  rl.Tmorous  approval  of  Mr.  Bergson. 
Never  was  the  poor  old  world  more  sharply  divided 


COXSTRUCTFVK  SUGGESTION 


20Q 


into  black  and  white,  sheep  and  goats,  Go-'  and  Devil, 
Heaven  and  Hell  than  in  this  philosophy. 

We  art-  olTercd  here  a  conception  of  economic  rela- 
tions which  neiessarily  raises  impossible  questions 
and  still  mure  impossible  "solutions." 

The  disciplined  and  soberest  clement  in  the  socialist 
movement,  as  well  as  in  the  older  trade  unions,  already 
sets  problems  and  presses  them  for  solution,  which 
will  ta.x  to  the  limit  all  the  strength  and  intelligence 
at  our  command.  Trade  unions,  for  example,  are 
generally  thought  to  be  ridiculous  in  assuming  some 
sort  of  "right  to  the  job"  that  has  been  deliberately 
abandoned  in  a  strike.  The  absurdity  of  this  "right" 
is  so  clear  in  the  case  of  the  individual  who  leaves  his 
employer,  that  we  think  it  safe  to  apply  the  principle 
to  collective  action.  Yet  recent  }'ears  have  shown  in 
several  count  ries  that  mass-action  in  strikes  may  assume 
proportions  and  at  the  same  time  get  strategic  control 
over  the  sources  of  social  safety,  that  raise  problems  on 
which  the  individual  instance  throws  no  ray  of  light. 

This  illustration  shows  by  comparison,  the  intrepid 
lengths  to  which  I.  W.  VV.  claims  are  pressed.  "Of 
course  the  job  is  ours!  Whose  is  it  if  not  ours?"  says 
one  of  them.  "It  is  ours  as  much  when  we  are  out  as 
when  we  arc  in." 

But  this  is  simplicity  itself  compared  to  the  next 
step.  Not  only  does  the  job  belong  to  them,  but  the 
tools,  machinery,  mill  and  industry  itself.  "All  these 
are  ours  because  we  laborers  made  them."  Scores  of 
times  I  have  heard  this  preached  with  placid  inno- 
cence, the  depths  of  w^hich  no  doubting  appeal  to  the 
speaker  could  in  the  least  disturb. 


1 1 


m  I 


ilO 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


r 

1= 


Ih*. 


Afttr  a  lecture  on  some  phase  of  lal)or  troubles,  a 
young  lady,  who  had  been  nettled  by  some  remark, 
made  tart  objections.  "My  father,"  she  said,  "cm- 
ploys  hundreds  of  men.  They  make  no  end  of  trouble 
for  him,  though  he  gives  everv  me  of  them  a  living." 
She  had  at  her  tongue's  end  u  exact  amounts  which 
went  each  week  to  "support,"  as  she  said,  these 
troublesome  employees.  When  I  ventured  to  ask  if  it 
was  really  so  onesided  as  that:  if  the  men  in  the  factory 
did  not  also  help  "support"  her  father:  if  they  gave 
him  notlung  in  return  for  all  his  favors,  I  found, 
though  she  had  college  training,  that  the  question  had 
no  meaning  for  her.  She  was  going  about  in  her  little 
world  carrying  in  her  pretty  head  this  dense  illusion 
that  her  father  was  a  kind  of  patron  saint  dispensing 
favors  to  ungrateful  and  little  deserving  mill  hands. 

Years  after,  at  a  strike  ago'nst  another  kind  of  mill, 
I  met  a  youth  to  whom  Syndicalism  was  a  religion. 
With  glowing  sincerity  he  was  telling  the  packed 
hearers  about  him  that  the  employers  were  "shirkers 
and  not  workers."  "They  did  not  make  that  mill  or 
anything  in  it.  From  cellar  to  roof  labor  made  it;  and 
what  labor  makes,  labor  should  have." 

Here  again  was  the  young  lady.  As  with  her,  I 
tried  to  draw  from  him  some  further  statement  about 
the  employer's  obvious  part  in  the  creation  and 
maintenance  of  the  mills  in  nuestion.  But  this  meant 
nothing  to  him.  There  was  no  further  question  in  his 
mind.    "The  mill  is  ours  and  we  shall  take  our  own." 

Since  then,  these  two  have  hung  in  my  memory  as 
companion  pictures.  In  point  of  density,  unc  illusion 
is  as  pernicious  as  the  other.     There  are  views  so 


CONSTRUCTIVE  SUG(iF.STION 


311 


wildly  unrelaic'd  to  any  possible  social  change,  that  we 
rightly  set  them  down  among  the  antics  of  a  disordered 
or  undisciplined  mind.  An  I.  VV.  W.  writer  has  com- 
plained in  one  of  their  journals  that  too  many  of  the 
membership  enter  ujxin  oratorical  instruction  before 
they  are  in  the  least  prepared  for  it.  He  then  adds: 
"These  new  converts  are  too  much  'in  advance' 
to  be  of  any  help  to  the  cause,"  but  how  can  one 
ignorant  of  his  own  business  be  "in  advance"  of 
anything?  Why  not  state  it  as  it  is.  "They  arc  so 
far  behind  that  they  are  unfit  to  teach."  A  nimble 
vanity  is  not  confined  to  certain  criminal  and  degen- 
erate types.  It  has  the  thriftiest  growths  in  that 
immaturity  which  fnst  peeps  in  upon  some  vast 
human  problem  and  is  at  once  fired  to  sutTocation  with 
desire  to  lift  the  burden  of  the  world's  ignorance.  It 
is  always  the  mark  of  this  immaturity  to  assume  that 
its  light  burns  far  in  advance  of  the  dull  and  lagging 
multitude.  If  these  old  fory  survivals  mock  or  turn 
deaf  ears,  the  neophyie  finds  easy  solace  in  the 
thought  that  other  great  light-bearers  of  the  race  have 
met  the  same  hard  fate.  I  once  heard  the  ironic 
pleasantry,  "  Don't  try  to  reform  the  world  until  you 
are  perfectly  certain  that  the  world  can't  reform  you." 
Such  reproof  as  the  rebuke  carries  has  a  far  wider 
application  than  to  I.  W.  W.  neophytes.  It  applies 
to  every  shade  of  crude  impatience  from  which  few 
of  us  are  wholly  free. 

On  a  far  higher  plane  is  the  constructive  suggestion 
of  Odon  Por.  It  is  full  of  speculative  charms  but, 
at  every  point,  fatal  to  the  benumbing  prac'cos  of 
our  I.  W.  W. 


if 

'J 

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212 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


'  1 

■■i  )  ■' 


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)        i 


No  movement  commits  itself  to  cooperation  without 
at  the  same  time  committing  itself  to  the  peaceful  and 
creative  methods  of  reform.  Workmen's  cooperation 
has  a  growth  of  two  generations.  There  is  not  a  spot 
where  it  has  won  the  least  real  power  that  it  has  not 
affiliated  with  politics  and  with  reforms.  This  is  both 
its  hope  and  it.,  strength.  It  grows  only  by  creative 
action.  Sabotage  and  strikes  alike  are  an  abomination 
to  the  cooperator.  His  success  is  measured  by  his 
achievements  in  substituting  an  efficiency  superior  to 
that  of  private  profit-making  em.ployers.  He  dehb- 
erately  enters  into  competition  with  them  to  prove 
that  certain  middlemen  are  useless  and  therefore 
parasitic. 

This  high  and  strenuous  task  leaves  no  time  for  the 
"organized  delays  of  sabotage."  So  far  as  Syndical- 
ism turns  to  cooperation,  it  falls  into  line  with  the 
world's  best  and  safest  reform  work. 

No  one  assures  of  this  ^"'ith  more  imprcssiveness 
than  the  "intellectual  father"  of  the  movement, 
George  Sorel.  It  is  not  merely  that  he  rejects  sabot- 
age, he  rejects  even  more  all  attem.pts  to  chart  off  the 
future  of  society.  His  interest  is  in  the  obscure,  un- 
conscious forces  which  underhe  this  mass-movement. 
He  sees  the  middle  class  in  a  state  of  decay.  All  the 
commanding  energies  through  which,  for  centuries,  it 
came  to  power  have  sickened.  It  is  to  him  a  thing  for 
pity  and  contempt.  If  a  spark  of  hope  is  left  for  the 
bourgeois,  it  can  only  be  kindled  by  the  breath  of 
revolution.  1    This  leads  him  to  e.valt  the  possibilities 

'See  the  brilliant  and  impartia.  lysi^  in  the  first  chapters  of 
La  Philosophic  Syndicalist^  by  i\c      e  Guy-Grand. 


CONSTPxUCTIVi:   Sl( JC.KSTION 


213 


of  violence.  It  has  the  serpent's  charm  to  fix  the  eye 
upor  it.,  vliicc*  Militant  English  women  drop  their 
pru(  Ties,  attack  persons  and  property.  The  nation 
gasj  -  h:A  sits  up  vnd  pays  attention.  The  cause  gets 
a  healing.  To  Sorcl  no  great  social  uprising  is  possible 
without  drama.  The  imagination  must  be  shocked  and 
fascinated.  The  Reformation,  the  Revolution  of  1789, 
the  Italian  revolt  against  Austria,  owed  their  successes 
to  this  spectacle  of  daring  and  uncalculating  action. 

It  is  neither  important  nor  relevant  to  ask  if  this 
violence  is  "good"  or  "moral."  It  is  justified  if  it  is 
efiicient;  if  it  works  toward  its  end  in  getting  things 
done.  Wherever  these  forces  gain  such  headway  as  to 
shift  power  from  one  class  to  another,  we  have  the 
essence  of  a  "Revolution,"  the  soul  of  which  is  religion. 
This  religion  of  social  insurgency  is  Myth,  but  to  him 
that  lessens  neither  its  power  nor  its  sanctity.  It  has 
not  the  slightest  consequence  that  the  myth  is  not 
"true."  It  is  true  in  the  sense  that  Napoleon's  vic- 
tories were  won  by  aid  of  myths  with  which  his  soldiers 
clothed  their  leader. 

These  metaphysical  rhapsodies  are  not  from  the  pen 
of  a  literary  trifler.  They  are  the  serious  reflections  of 
a  highly  trained  engineer  whose  intellectual  gifts  have 
left  their  impress  upon  some  of  the  best  minds  of  our 
time.  They  are  ideas,  however,  very  awkward  for  all 
those  who  make  charts  of  any  society  built  on  the 
ruins  of  the  present  order.  The  disgust  which  the 
socialist  poet  Morris  felt  for  Bellamy's  Utopia  would 
be  as  nothing  to  Sorel's  repulsion  for  the  whole  con- 
structive mechanism  within  which  Mr.  Trautmann 
and  others  frame  their  future  society. 


Hi 
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5.  '1 


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♦     I*     ! 


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SI4 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


In  the  critical  objections  of  this  chapter  there  is  no 
word  of  denial  that  our  I.  W.  W.  may  upon  other 
grounds  justify  their  existence.  They  may  be  hon- 
estly accounted  for  because  of  things  intolerable  in  our 
present  disorders.  Syndicalism,  with  its  excesses  of 
statement  and  of  action,  with  all  the  fantasm  of  its 
working  method  will  continue,  and  sfwuld  continue 
as  one  among  other  prodding  annoyances  that  leave 
society  without  peace  until  it  dedicates  far  more  un- 
selfish thought  and  strength  to  avoidable  diseases 
like  unmerited  poverty,  unemployment,  grotesque 
inequalities  in  wealth  possession,  the  forced  prostitu- 
tion of  underpaid  women,  and  our  fatuous  brutalities 
in  dealing  with  crime. 

To  accept  these  and  kindred  social  sicknesses  as 
latalil-s  is  as  excuseless  as  to  accept  tuberculosis  or 
hookworm  as  permanent  and  unavoidable  ills. 


t 

1.  1 


bff'i 


til 


XVII 
SOME  EFFECTS  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 

The  larger  world  area,  from  which  Syndicalism 
sprang,  on  which  it  has  developed  and  now  acts,  must 
be  studied,  not  merely  for  its  origini  but  to  learn  what 
fate  has  befallen  it;  what  internal  and  external  diffi- 
culties have  appeared. 

This  natural  history  of  the  movement  in  very  dif- 
ferent countries  will  enable  us  to  make  a  closer  esti- 
mate of  its  possible  destinies  in  the  United  States. 
That  a  very  few  years  of  revolutionary  activity  in 
France,  for  example,  should  produce  an  inner  schism 
in  which  radical  and  conservative  Syndicalists  con- 
front each  other  as  in  opposing  camps  instructs  us 
because  we  see  the  same  beginnings  and  the  same 
tendency  already  among  our  I.  W.  W.  The  explana- 
tion is  almost  too  simple  to  be  stated.  In  any  large 
gathering  of  bread  winners,  many  are  married,  others 
want  to  be;  some  are  well  paid  and  have  continuous 
work,  others  are  ill  paid  for  fitful  and  uncertain 
jobs,  some  are  sceptical  of  revolutionary  methods, 
others  are  so  far  satisfied  with  their  wages  as  to 
prefer  them  to  doubtful  chances.  These  actual  and 
temperamental  differences  inevitably  come  to  the 
surface.  Those  who  are  permanently  led  by  the  power 
of  a  distant  and  uncertain  ideal  are  few,  while  those 
are  many  who,  soon  or  late,  yield  to  the  pressure  of 
the  nearer  need.     This  conflict  in  the  estimate  of 

215 


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ii.i 


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it 


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216 


AMERICAN  SYNT>     ALISM 


II 


1     ' 


S:    J 


I  ^  i 


interests  shattered  the  Knights  of  Labor.    It  may  not 
shatter  our  I.  W.  W.,  but  it  will  constantly  check  it, 
producing  from  within,  its  own  conservative  reactions. 
These  are  now  so  distinct  in  France  that  the  words, 
"lefts,"  "rights,"  and  "moderates,"  are  seen  in  the 
recent  literature.     There  are  not  only  "reformists" 
(conservatives)  like  Niel,  Keufcr,  Renard  and  Albert 
Thomas,  but  there  arc  trade  union  groups  that  bear 
the  same  name.    Steady  and  fairly  remunerative  work 
holds  them  back  from  hazardous  ventures.    Each  of 
the  above  men  has  borne  the  heavy  responsibilities 
attached  to  the  oflfice  of  working  secretary,  Keufer  of 
the  printers,  Renard  of  the  textile  workers.^    In  their 
positions  things  have  to  be  done  and  not  merely 
talked  about  or  shirked  by  passing  resolutions.    Even 
V  the  wage  system  Is  outworn,  the  actual  present  facts 
of  that  system  have  pow  to  be  faced,  as  do  the  other 
conditions  of  sanitation,  wages  and  hours  of  labor. 
The  struggle  with  these  hard  realities  begets  the  cooler 
temper  and  soberer  choice  of  ways  and  means.    Even 
Socialism  that  has  borne  its  responsibilities  is  lined  up 
against  capitalism  as  unflinchingly  as  the  I.  W.^  W. 
Both  desire  to  capture  the  power  now  held  by  capital- 
ists, but  the  tactics  difTer  about  as  widely  as  hot  impulse 
diflers  from  cool  reflection.     Yet  the  I.  W.  W.  change 
their  attitude  wherever  the  struggle  passes  into  the  stage 
of  detmite  accountabilities.  When  we  are  wiser  we  shall 
meet  them  at  this  point.    It  is  precisely  in  that  situa- 
tion that  education— for  them  and  for  us— is  possible. 

'As  early  as  1904,  in  the  MouvemenI  Socialist  (November)  an 
attack  uixjn  this  more  cautious  membership  was  made  by  the  an- 
.arrhist  Pouget. 


SOME  FFFECTS  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 


-^17 


In  the  resounding  victory  which  the  I.  W.  W.  claim 
at  Lawrence,  the  very  success  forced  its  petty  com- 
promises with  employers  and  with  the  wage  system, 
closely  after  the  manner  of  ordinary  trade  union 
dickering.  Instead  of  "  No  crapromise  with  employer 
or  with  wage-slavery,"  there  was  the  same  oppor- 
tunist give-and-take.  Superintendents  were  waited 
upon,  and  others  of  the  strike  committee  held  counsel 
with  Boston  officials  of  the  American  Company,  to 
argue  out  the  demar  ds  for  fifteen  per  cent  advance, 
discontinuance  of  the  premium  system  and  extra  pay 
for  overtime.  This  is  the  world-old  story— the  quick 
reaction  of  responsibihty  upon  behavior.  As  it  falls 
upon  the  I.  W.  W.,  the  leaders  begin  to  substitute 
some  degree  of  cautious  calculation  for  impulsive 
action.  This  reverses  much  eloquent  theorizing  upon 
the  vices  of  the  reason  and  the  virtues  of  instinct  which 
marks  so  much  syndicalist  speculation.  When  urgent 
and  conflicting  duties  face  us  for  immediate  decisions, 
every  conscious  and  rational  faculty  must  act. 

On  the  first  approach  of  definite  responsibility  the 
I.  W.  W.  reflect,  compare  and  balance.  They  act  as 
the  poHtician  acts.  In  the  high  flights  of  agitation, 
demands  are  sweeping  and  all  things  promised. 
"There  shall  be  no  compromise  with  the  wage  system 
because  it  is  robbery,"  are  words  I  heard  from  a 
speaker  in  the  Lawrence  strike.  But  on  the  first  as- 
surance that  the  battle  was  to  be  won,  compromise 
was  a  necessity.  With  as  much  shrewdness  as  haste, 
the  strikers  took  to  the  ordinary  bartering  of  practical 
men.  As  the  theory  passed  into  a  situation  that  must 
be  me'c,  they  met  it  in  the  spirit  of  a  sensible  trade 


'f 

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N 


1'  ! 


218 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


union  or  an  arbitration  board:— the  spirit  of  a  whole- 
some opportunism. 

On  wing  in  the  "oratorical  zone"  they  will  stand 
upon  "principle,"  will  have  the  whole  loaf  or  none. 
Face  to  face  with  the  fact,  they  take  their  slice  like 
the  most  despised  of  reformers.    They  are  dehghted 
to  get  for  the  skilled  a  slice  so  thin  as  a  rise  of  five 
per  cent,  and  to  shout  over  the  victory.    In  motive  at 
least,  it  is  much  to  their  credit  that  the  lowest  paid 
should  have  the  highest  increase.    The  discrimination 
against  the  rewards  of  skill  is  open  to  grave  question, 
but  it  is  one  of  their  "principles"  to  which  much 
fidelity  has  been  shown.     They  will,   however,  as 
others,  take  what  they  can  get.    They  will  haggle  for 
this  in  ways  as  ancient  as  exchanges  on  a  far  Eastern 
market. 

If  their  power  grows,  the  old  opportunist  method 
will  keep  pace  with  it  driving  the  wedge  deeper  be- 
tween the  Anarchist  and  those  who  accept  the  limita- 
tions and  power  of  organization. 

At  the  present  writing  an  I.  W.  W.  Proclamation 
goes  out  from  Pittsburg  to  all  steel,  iron  and  coke 
workers  in  the  district.  It  begins:  "The  hour  has 
arrived.— Tie  up  all  the  mills,  shut  down  the  mines, 
blow  out  the  furnaces  and  the  ovens,  pull  the  fires, 
stop  the  engines  and  the  pumps— strike,  strike  all, 
hear  ye,  all  together  to  win." 

The  demand  reads: 


THE   EIGHT-HOUR  WORKDAY 

In  all  Steel  and  iron  mills  and  factories,  in  all  miaes,  in 
the  coke  districts,  everywhere! 


SOME  EFFECTS  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 


219 


AN  INCREASE   OF  40  PER   CENT 

in  wages  for  the  workers  receiving  less  than  $2  per  day, 
of  20  per  cent  for  all  receiving  from  $2  to  $4  per  day, 
and  a  5  per  cent  increase  for  all  receiving  more  than 
$4  per  day. 

"Time  and  a  half  for  overtime,  double  time  for  work 
on  holidays. " 

All  this  is  not  a  reproach.  It  shows  good  sense. 
But  it  shows  also  that  the  struggle  instantly  develops 
exigencies  which  divide  men  on  the  tactics  to  be  em- 
ployed. With  every  extension  of  the  struggle,  with 
every  new  increment  of  power  and  the  liabilities  it 
brings,  these  practical  tactics  make  sharper  division 
among  those  upon  whom  the  burdens  fall.  Thus  the 
struggle  becomes  selective  and  the  process  increases 
with  every  new  committee  to  which  special  tasks  are 
assigned.  Every  step  involves  organization,  but  this 
is  intolerable  to  the  Anarchist.  Organization  imposes 
delays,  uniformities,  and  restraints.  Within  it  the 
individual  cannot  do  as  he  hkes.  One  Syndicalist 
says,  "Our  history  is  nothing  but  the  Fourth  Estate 
coming  to  consciousness  and  thus  to  power."  The 
Revolution  of  1848,  he  says,  was  the  final  signal  of 
victory.  Out  of  it  came  the  "World  Brotherhood," 
the  International  of  1863.  But  organization  with  its 
fixing  of  responsibilities  and  limitations  was  found 
necessary  even  in  the  International. 

As  organization  developed  and  cooperative  action 
and  conciliation  in  team-work  became  necessary,  the 
eternal  conflict  with  the  anarchist  type  set  in,  as  it  will 
in  all  syndicalist  and  socialist  fellowship. 


I 


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220 


AMERICAN  S^-NDICALISM 


r  1 


'  I 


Why,  in  its  first  heroic  effort  to  bring  the  work- 
ers of  the  world  together,  did  the  International 
run  amuck?  It  was  not  from  any  external  op- 
position but  solely  from  its  own  inner  strife  and 
discord.  It  could  unite  on  the  great  phrases,  but 
at  the  first  attempt  to  construct  policies  the  war 
was  on.  The  war  was  on,  moreover,  precisely 
as  it  is  now  on  between  the  I.  W.  W.  on  one  side, 
and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  together 
with  ail  of  our  more  disciplined  Socialists,   on   the 

other. 

What  drove  the  International  from  pillar  to  post 
was  the  presence  of  the  Anarchist.  The  Anarchist 
refuses  to  submit  to  "group  discipline."  His  name  for 
the  Devil  is  any  sort  of  authority  outside  himself. 
For  temporary  shifts  he  will  form  a  group,  but  the 
individual  is  not  held  by  it. 

He  is  continually  slipping  out  of  the  restraining 
group  and  playing  his  hand  alone  after  his  own  tem- 
perament. This,  in  the  field  of  action,  is  the  essence 
of  anarchy. 

For  almost  twenty  years  the  International  strug- 
gled with  this  outlaw  element  until  the  Associa- 
tion was  driven  to  New  York  city,  where  it  staggered 
on  for  a  few  years  under  the  guidance  of  Johann 

Most. 

The  trade  unions  were  of  course  first  to  discover  the 
impossibility  of  working  with  this  body.  Then,  one 
by  one,  it  was  abandoned  by  socialist  groups.  In  this 
short  history,  we  actually  find  the  Anarchists  them- 
selves splitting  into  three  warring  sections  each  with 
its  own  emphasis. 


I    "^ 


SOME  EFFECTS  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 


221 


One  of  these  (Anarchist-Communist)  splits  again 
over  the  question  of  violence — when,  where  and  how 
much  violence  may  be  sanctioned? 

Twenty-five  years  ago  we  had  the  I.  W.  P.  A. 
(International  Working  People's  Association)  and 
the  I.  VV.  A.;  the  latter  claiming  that  "violence  should 
be  held  in  more  restraint." 

This  same  turbulent  history  will  repeat  itself  in  our 
own  I.  W.  W.,  as  it  struggles  with  the  older  unionism 
and  with  that  part  of  our  Socialism  which  affiliates 
with  political  action  and  reform.' 

It  is  this  strife  between  extreme  individualism,  or 
small  recalcitrant  minorities,  and  political  majorities 
which  produce  all  "reformist"  parties  that  one  sees 
now  powerfully  at  work  in  France. 

Syndicalism  of  the  "reformist"  character  vetoes 
every  extreme  proposal  of  the  revolutionary  branch. 
First  and  most  fundamental,  it  distrusts  the  action  of 
small  minorities  as  it  rebels  against  giving  the  same 
vote  to  a  small  union  as  to  a  large  one.-  It  insists  upon 
steadying  the  movement  by  appeal  to  entire  federated 
groups.  It  asks,  like  the  older  unions,  for  more  dues, 
more  funds  and  benefits.  It  is  less  "anti-patriotic." 
It  is  far  wiser  about  the  possibilities  of  politics.    It  is 

'  In  the  organ  of  Industrial  Unionism  printed  in  Glasgow  (Decem- 
ber issue)  the  question  is  put:  "Why  is  it  that  after  about  seven  years 
of  strenuous  propaganda,  and  the  sacrifice  of  time,  money,  and 
energy,  the  Industrial  Union  movement  has  failed  to  influence  the 
working  class?"  In  the  January  number,  this  is  denied,  but  with 
evidence  that  proves  the  factional  hostilities  already  at  work.  See 
The  Socialist  (Dec.  and  Jan.),  1912-13. 

^  This  exercise  of  power  by  small  minorities  is  so  insultingly  un- 
Hemncratir  that  or.f  •,-.  not  surprised  to  find  frequent  bitter  attacks 
on  the  "  fetish  of  democracy." 


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223 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


\m 


not  afraid  of  pension  funds,  and  those  like  the  printers, 
who  have  sick  and  strike  funds,  are  in  the  "reformist" 
branch  in  France.  Vigorous  sections  of  textile, 
mine,  tobacco  workers  and  even  railroad  men  are 
dcfmitcly  reformist.  The  revolutionaries  fight  these 
cautious  measures  for  the  obvious  reason  that  they  are 
one  and  all  the  natural  basis  of  agreements  with  em- 
ployers' associations  or  with  current  political  reforms. 
Such  history  of  the  syndicalist  General  Federation  as 
is  accessible  shows  clearly  that  a  small  and  energetic 
minority  hate  the  referendum  appeal  to  large  major- 
ities. A  leading  "  Reformist,"  A.  I^ufer,  has  from  the 
start  fought  for  the  "collective  contract,"  which  as- 
sumes cooperation  with  employer  and  with  politics. 

All  this  inner  struggle  raises  the  question— Can 
Syndicalism  develop  permanent  and  constructive 
energies?  This  is  inconceivable  unless  it  afFiUate  with 
the  main  currents  of  existing  social  and  reform  legisla- 
tion. The  great  tasks  are  no  longer  to  be  met  except 
through  endeavors  that  are  organic  and  disciplinary. 
To  this  the  anarchist  temperament  refuses  to  submit. 
If  the  cooperative  spirit  triumph  in  the  movement,  it 
can  come  only  through  those  inclinations  that  find 
their  satisfaction  in  resolute  team  work.  With  com- 
petitive habits  as  old  as  the  race  struggle,  this  dis- 
position to  work  helpfully  together  is  created  only  as 
other  habits  are  created.  This  is  no  more  a  moral  test 
than  it  is  an  industrial  test.  By  it  Syndicalism  as  a 
constructive  movement  will  stand  or  fall. 

It  may  be  doubted  if  any  movement  in  existence 
is  more  calculated  by  its  practical  methods  to  defeat 
and  to  delay  the  cooperative  temper  and  habit  than 


i! 


SOME   EFFECTS  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 


".? 


the  I.  W.  W.,  as  at  present  directed  in  the  United 
States.  If  there  were  some  psychic  scale  or  metre  by 
which  we  could  measure  the  accumulation  of  anger 
and  resentment  which  sabotage  alone  kindles  in  the 
heart  of  industrial  managers,  it  would  make  a  very 
ghastly  showing.  I  have  never  put  this  question  to 
one  I.  W.  VV.  member  who  thought  of  this  manufac- 
tured hostility  except  with  satisfaction.  The  reply  is, 
"We  want  no  cooperation  with  the  employing  class. 
The  less  of  it,  the  better  and  the  more  hope  for  us." 
This  does  not  meet  the  difficulty.  It  is  not  only  that 
the  three-fold  weapon  of  the  I.  W.  W.  enrages  the 
managers  of  business,  //  angers  and  irritates  a  large  part 
of  the  wage  earners.  At  this  moment  the  real  strength  of 
SociaHsm  and  of  trade  unionism  is  against  I.  W.  \V. 
methods.  Much  of  the  very  best  in  these  two  bodies  is 
as  hot  in  their  protest  as  any  capitalist  manager. 

Here,  within  the  inner  ranks  of  labor  itself,  the 
I.  W.  W.  creates  the  e.xact  opposite  of  the  cooperative 
spirit  and  habit.  As  we  have  seen,  these  antagonisms 
are  already  smarting  among  Syndicalists  themselves. 
This  is  the  slippery  anarchist  slope  from  which  the 
movement  will  free  itself  with  utmost  difficulty.  Its 
raw  fighting  tactics  are  and  have  been  its  own  worst 
enemy,  zy  and  in  so  far  as  a  cooperating  commonwealth 
is  its  declared  hope. 

This  cooperative  plan  is  nowhere  better  seen  than 
in  the  "Preferential  shop"  in  New  York  garment 
industries.  The  trade  union,  the  employer  and  the 
public  have  organic  recognition.  It  is  a  form  of  co- 
operation as  educational  to  labor  as  it  is  to  capital. 
Automatically  the  consumer  becomes  a  partner  in 


2J4 


AMFRICAN  SYNDICALISM 


I: 


I 


preserving  the  higher  standards  of  income,  conditions 
and  sanitation. 

Avoiding  the  perils  of  the  "closed  shop"  collective 
bargaining  and  genuine  labor  organization  arc 
frankly  recognized  by  employer  and  public  alike. 
Even  if,  as  syndicalists  have  it,  capitalism  is  trembling 
on  the  edge  of  the  abyss,  the  "protocol  of  peace"  has 
an  informing  and  educational  influence  so  direct,  so 
inclusive,  so  powerful  that  it  should  be  welcomed  by 
the  rankest  revolutionist  as  good  prcparatorj-  dis- 
cipline for  those  who  are  to  reorganize  the  new  society, 
llsat  needs  so  rudimcntar>'  as  these  should  be  ignored 
is  little  to  the  credit  of  syndicalist  campaigners. 

The  severest  and  most  merited  criticism  of  I.  W.  W. 
ways  and  means  is:  (i)  their  destructive  character, 
and  the  consequent  reaction  on  the  habits  of  those 
who  practice  them;  and  (2)  that  these  methods  are 
treated  as  if  they  were  principles  of  action :  principles 
that  can  be  safely  entrusted  in  their  application  to 
miscellaneous  masses  of  men  and  women  in  times  of 
group  excitement.  It  is  not  to  such  keeping  that  we 
shall  entrust  either  our  ethical  or  business  destinies. 
If  this  means  failure  in  all  constructive  achievement 
a  question  yet  remains,  What  service  if  any,  may  we 
honestly  assign  to  a  movement  dignilicd  by  such 
heroism  and  by  inspiring  sacrifices  which  lift  it  beyond 
our  cynicism  and  beyond  our  moral  indifference. 


XVIII 
THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  AWAKEXER 

I\  most  of  its  present  activities  in  the  United  States 
the  I.  W.  W.  is  pretty  exhaustively  described  by  the 
word  "Shocker."  It  startles  the  preoccupied  by  its 
new  and  unwonted  approach.  Like  the  stroke  of  a 
suffragette's  hammer  u[M)n  plate  jijlass,  it  gets  instant 
atteniion  from  every  one  within  hearing. 

I  heard  a  man  justify  himself  for  personal  rudeness 
on  this  ground:  "I  have  a  weak  voice,  and  if  I  don't 
say  disagreeable  things,  nobody  will  listen  to  me." 
The  voice  of  the  I.  VV.  VV.  is  not  weak,  but  the  society 
to  which  it  sj)eaks  is  deaf  with  a  good  deal  of  apathy 
and  indifference.  Only  the  very  strident  note  will 
reach  it.  Every  step  toward  larger  justice  or  social 
protection  seems  possible  only  after  some  shock  to 
the  conscience  or  to  the  emotions. 

We  were  deaf  as  adders  to  the  truth  about  our  city 
politics  until  a  troop  of  muckrakers  shouted  the  facts 
in  our  ears.  We  have  at  last  begun  to  deal  timidly 
with  the  "white  slave  tratlic,"  though  scarcely  daring 
yet  to  put  the  deeper  facts  into  words.  Such  depths  of 
consenting  hypocrisy  ha\e  so  long  screened  it  from 
fearless  investigation,  that  we  cannot  yet  make  a  regu- 
lation that  even  touches  the  heart  of  it.  Society  has 
assented  to  it;  found  it  "necessary"  and  then  used 
prostitution  to  protect  the  virtue  of  favored  classes 
until  the  evil  has  grown  into  the  very  structure  and 
tissue  of  society.    The  stripped  results  are  now  fright- 


'1. 

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226 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


ening  us  into  some  sincerity.  The  Physician  and  Man 
of  Science  are  now  the  shockers:— the  Muckrakers  in 
this  new  field.  They  are  compelling  us  to  look  at 
some  of  the  physical  horrors  which  this  evil  inflicts 
by  its  cancerous  reaction  on  the  race. 

As  for  its  social  origins  and  all  its  darker  implications 
of  social  guilt  and  complicity,  no  one  has  ever  put 
more  needed  truth  than  Bernard  Shaw  into  a  passage 
that  most  folk  who  think  well  of  themselves  should 
learn  by  heart.  It  concerns  the  recent  attempt  in 
England  to  pass  a  law  for  the  flogging  of  certain  per- 
sons engaged  in  this  loathsome  traffic.  In  the  new 
organ,  The  Awakener,  published  by  English  women 
to  deal  with  this  evil  (as  we  have  started  Vigilance) 
Mr.  Shaw  writes: 

"And  you,  humble  reader,  who  are  neither  a  share- 
holder nor  a  landlord,  do  you  thank  God  that  you 
are  guiltless  in  this  matter?  Take  care!  The  first 
man  flogged  unuer  the  Act  may  turn  on  you  and  say, 
'God  shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall.'  The  wages 
of  prostitution  are  stitched  into  your  button-holes 
and  into  your  blouse,  pasted  into  your  match-boxes 
and  your  boxes  of  pins,  stuffed  into  your  mattress, 
mixed  with  the  paint  on  your  walls,  and  stuck  between 
the  joints  of  your  water-pipes.  The  very  glaze  on  your 
basin  and  teacup  has  in  it  the  lead  poison  that  you 
offer  to  the  decent  woman  as  the  reward  of  honest 
labor,  whilst  the  procuress  is  offering  chicken  and 
champagne.  Flog  other  people  until  you  are  black  in 
the  face  and  they  are  red  in  the  back:  You  will  not 
cheat  the  Recording  Angel  into  putting  down  your 
debts  to  the  wrong  account" 


'■tmM'h-  i^'^  ■'■^■|[i^^«v-"£--*;v..it^*i^. 


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THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  AWAKENER 
It  is  not  the  jester  who  speaks  in  these 


"7 


cs  m  these  words,  it  is 
the  truthteller.  Until  the  humbling  lesson  is  learned 
by  those  addressed,  all  the  gnawing  miseries  of  this 
social  disease  will  go  on  as  of  old. 

This  special  evil  is  but  one  of  many  whose  roots 
have  reached  such  depths  in  our  society  that  tradi- 
tional palliatives,  like  many  of  our  charities,  do  not 
even  touch  them.  With  all  our  enormous  expenditure 
against  crime,  did  it  ever  stalk  among  us  with  more 
effrontery  in  the  United  States  than  at  the  present 
moment? 

It  looks  as  if  suffering  or  successive  shocks  alone 
could  compel  us  to  deal  greatly  and  adequately  with 
these  evils.  We  do  not  even  heed  industrial  and 
economic  wrongs  unless  stunned  and  frightened  into 
action.  There  were  evils  in  Southern  lumber  camps 
quite  unbelievable  until  I.  W.  W.  "agitators"  called 
attention  to  them. 

But  for  these  disturbers,  we  should  apparently  have 
looked  on  unconcerned  while  textile  managers  cut 
wages  because  the  state  had  wisely  lowered  the  work- 
ing hours.  A  progressive  social  legislation  should  not 
be  defeated  by  private  decision  in  that  manner.  The 
consequences  are  far  too  serious  for  private  determina- 
tion. If  a  wage-cut  which  was  so  certain  to  involve 
social  danger  is  necessary,  it  should  at  least  have  ade- 
quate public  explanation.  The  end  to  these  secret  and 
absolute  decisions,  in  which  the  public  is  intimately 
concerned,  cannot  come  too  soon.  If  I.  W.  W.  tactics 
help  to  face  these  issues,  their  "agitators"  then  be- 
come educators  and  as  such  deserve  approval. 
In  many  other  ways,  they  startle  a  too  impassive 


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228 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


society  into  some  sense  of  those  darker  realities  in  the 
midst  of  which  we  live  partly  in  ignorance,  partly  by 
moral  torpor. 

It  has  long  been  half  known  that  in  many  garish 
hotels  and  restaurants— the  very  ones  to  which 
"Easy  Street"  flocks  for  its  jollities— that  the  con- 
ditions, the  pay,  and  hours  of  work  among  certain  of 
the  lower  servnng  class  were  inhumanly  bad.  For 
parts  of  this  service,  the  vulgar  briberies  of  the  tipping 
system  invited  the  abuse  of  uncertainty,  envy,  sus- 
picion and  exploitation.  The  weaker  help  especially 
among  the  women  were  worked  far  beyond  legal 
Hmits.  There  was  often  an  extremely  vicious  system 
of  fining.  Because  of  our  inveterate  social  preoccu- 
pations these  abuses  might  go  on  for  decades.  But 
suddenly  from  this  underworld  the  smouldering  heats 
burst  into  a  "Waiters  Strike."  The  thron£,ed  tables 
are  unserved.  Momentarily  the  fuss  and  clutter  are 
great  fun,  except  for  the  proprietors.  These  have 
spasms  of  choler  which  the  public  itself  shares  when 
the  novelty  is  gone  or  the  dinners  too  long  delayed. 

A  specified  list  of  complaints  was  given  me  at  the 
meeting  place  of  the  cooks  and  waiters.  I  have  sub- 
mitted it  to  hotel  managers  and  to  stewards  as  well  as 
to  waiters  in  no  way  connected  with  the  strike.  These 
witnesses  agree  that  some  of  the  complaints  are 
absurd;  that  some  of  the  charges  are  groundless. 
They  agree  that  much  is  demanded  which  is  impossible 
to  grant.  They  agree  that  the  complaints  do  not 
apply  to  all  hotels  and  restaurants.  But  they  also 
agree  in  the  only  thing  which  concerns  us,  that  very 
widely  and  where  one  should  least  expect  it  are  utterly 


THE  SERVICr:  OF  THE  AWAKENER 


229 


inexcusable  abuses  against  the  weaker  and  more 
obscure  "help."  An  old  steward  with  experience  in 
many  resorts  put  it— "these  strikers  are  acting  like 
lunatics  but  in  a  lot  of  the  places  where  they  work 
there  is  so  much  outrageous  ill-treatment  and  so  much 
besides  which  would  disgust  the  public  if  they  only 
knew  about  it,  that  any  sort  of  an  uproar  if  it  brings 
out  the  facts  is  a  good  thing." 

No  investigator  will  ask  more  than  that.  Socially, 
we  seem  thus  far  to  have  developed  no  willingness  or 
capacity  to  know  about  abuses  or  to  acknowledge 
them,  except  through  a  catasl  ophe  or  the  waste  and 
noisy  rumpus  like  that  of  a  strike.  These  do  definitely 
call  attention  to  ignored  evils.  It  required  a  devastat- 
ing strike  in  England  to  show  an  astonished  public 
that  100,000  men  upon  their  railways  were  receiving 
scarcely  one  dollar  a  day— large  numbers  of  them 
with  families,  and  at  a  time  when  that  dollar  was 
shrinking  to  eighty  cents  because  of  rising  prices.  No 
one  could  be  made  to  believe  the  miseries  of  the 
Pas-de-calais  mines  in  the  north  of  France  until  the 
long  horrors  of  a  strike  compelled  the  public  to  look 
and  to  listen.  It  is  the  same  dreary  tale  with  our 
garment  industries  and  with  our  textile  mills  down 
to  the  Lawrence  strike.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor 
very  calmly  tells  his  story  in  a  lengthy  Report,  and, 
because  of  the  strike,  people  all  over  the  country 
send  greedy  appeals  for  a  copy.  Hard  by  is  Lowell 
made  the  object  of  a  Survey  under  the  auspices  of 
a  department  of  Harvard  University.  This  study  by 
one  long  resident  in  the  city  develops  into  a  goodly 
book,  without  a  bitter  line  from  cover  to  cover.    In 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


the  spirit  of  good  will,  the  author  tries  to  spare  that 
most  sensidve  thing  in  the  world — community  pride, 
but  the  truth  comes  out  and  is  hungrily  sought  and 
widely  quoted  because  the  drama  at  Lawrence  had 
startled  the  public.  The  volume  has  many  passages 
of  which  these  are  samples:—  * 

"One  tenement  had  a  record  of  six  deaths  in  five 
successive  families  in  this  tuberculosis  incubator. 
This  showed  the  absolute  necessity  of  protecting 
people  against  themselves.  It  became  necessary  at 
once  to  inspect  the  tenements,  and  the  Board  soon 
found  itself  opposed  by  the  greed  of  certain  landlords. 
Dirt,  darkness  and  dampness,  the  three  worst  features 
to  fight,  are  fostered  by  such  conditions.  .  .  .  One 
landlord  said  in  cold  blood  that  property  of  this  sort 
had  paid  for  itself  within  five  years.  But  the  price  of 
such  a  profit  was  the  health  of  his  tenants." 

".  .  .  the  head  nurse  employed  by  the  District 
Nursing  Department  of  the  Middlesex  Women's 
Club,  expressed  herself  forcibly  upon  the  conditions 
she  found  in  her  visits  during  the  past  year  among 
the  sick  poor.  'I  have  been  amazed,'  she  said,  'liter- 
ally stunned,  by  the  conditions  under  which  many 
people  live  in  Lowell.  It  is  confined  to  no  particular 
locality;  there  are  bad  conditions,  in  spots,  scattered 
all  over  the  city.'" 

"Cellars  are  allowed  to  go  unpurified  by  whitewash, 
until  the  odor  from  them  is  discernible  from  the  out- 
side of  the  building.  Then  there  are  rotten  timbers, 
casements  falling  with  decay,  and  a  general  atmos- 
phere of  dampne«;?i  and  mouldiness  that  is  unwhole- 

*  Thf.  Ruord  of  a  Ciiy,  G.  F.  Kennpntt;  Macmillan  &  Co.,  igi2. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  AWAKENER 


231 


some.  Moreover,  the  sanitary  provisions  are  often  in 
wretched  condition.  Outside  water-closets,  some- 
times windowless,  connect  with  the  houses;  and  for 
purposes  of  practical  economy,  the  owner  of  the 
property  occasionally  has  an  arrangement  by  which 
he  attends  to  the  flushing  himself,  once  or  twice  a  day, 
as  happens  to  be  convenient.  This  keeps  down  the 
water  bill,  but  it  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  lower  the 
tenement  house  death-rate." 

"The  hapless  condition  of  the  unskilled  labor  is 
apparent.  Our  earlier  view  is  confirmed,  that,  when 
the  husband  is  the  only  wage-earner,  he  can  rarely 
support  a  wife  and  two  small  children.  In  his  young 
manhood,  he  and  his  little  ones  are  in  constant  distress 
from  lack  of  nourishing  food,  clothing  and  simple 
comforts.  He  is  fairly  comfortable  for  a  few  brief 
years  in  middle  life,  when  his  children,  between 
fourteen  and  eighteen  years  of  age,  become  wage- 
earners  and  help  to  increase  the  family  fund.  Often, 
when  his  earning  capacity  has  diminished  or  ended, 
he  is  found  in  a  pitiable  condition,  with  his  family 
scattered,  and  with  nothing  saved  from  his  scanty 
wages.  All  along  the  way  he  has  met  with  accident, 
sickness  and  unemployment  caused  by  slack  work, 
shut-downs,  strikes  and  lock-outs." 

"The  standard  requirement  of  400  cubic  feet  for 
each  adult  for  twenty-fours  a  day,  exclusive  of  the 
kitchen,  is  violated  on  every  side  in  the  congested 
districts  named." 

"The  largest  wooden  tenement  blocks  in  'Little 
Canada,'  'The  Harris,'  has  two  shops  and  forty-eight 
tenements  of  four  rooms  ea^      and  often  contains 


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232 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


about  three  hundred  inhabitants.    It  has  thirty  rooms 
without  windows." 

Elementary  sanitary  protection  is  imperilled  because 
"it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to  keep  clean  and 
healthy  in  the  miserable,  over-crowded  tenements 
which  they  occupy  here." 

This  far  pulsing  strike  in  a  neighboring  town  makes 
men  read  this  indictment.  It  opens  the  mind  to  evi- 
dence that  otherwise  would  have  no  hearing.  It  is 
pitiful  enough  that  such  wrecking  disturbances  should 
be  required  even  to  make  us  look  these  evils  in  the 
face.  But  until  ive  learn  a  new  solicitude  j or  things  thai 
shame  us,  this  sharp  surgery  of  revolt  is  to  be  welcomed. 

It  is  directly  to  a  threatening  and  rebuking  Socialism 
that  Europe  owes  much  of  its  most  eflective  social 
legislation.  It  literally  scared  society  into  some  of  its 
most  elementary  duties.  Until  we  can  act  without 
threats,  threats  are  our  salvation— yes,  even  the 
threats  of  the  I.  W.  W.  This  service  they  render,  and 
it  is  not  a  mean  one.  They  are  telling  plain  truths  to 
many  sections  of  our  community.  They  are  challeng- 
ing some  of  our  old  trade  unions,— telling  them  of 
their  lust  for  monopoly  power:  of  their  tendency  to 
exclusiveness  and  snobbery  toward  the  unskilled  and 
less  fortunate  among  the  laborers.  A  trade  union  like 
some  in  the  glass  industry  may  develop  every  monop- 
oly vice  that  capitalism  shows  at  its  worst.  It  may 
have  the  same  hard  complacency,  the  same  indiffer- 
ence, the  same  need  to  be  convicted  of  sin  that  is 
socially  true  of  us  all.  I  asked  one  of  the  oldest  and 
best  of  our  social  settlement  workers  what,  in  order  of 
demerit,  was  our  chief  sin.    She  said,  "The  sleep  of 


t  'I 


THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  AWAKENER 


233 


indifference    among    the    comfortable,    headed    the 
list." 

The  rebelling  spirit  of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  at  least  a 
wholesome  disquieter  of  this  sleep.  If  we  add  to  this, 
its  own  awakening  appeal  to  the  more  unfavored  labor 
in  which  its  propaganda  is  carried  on,  we  are  merely 
recognizing  forces  that  are  useful  until  a  miser  way  is 
found  to  do  their  work.  This  we  have  not  yet  found, 
neither  have  we  greatly  and  searchingly  tried  to  find 
it.  So  many  are  our  social  inhumanities  that  the 
rudest  upsetting  will  do  us  good  if  the  shock  of  it 
forces  us  to  our  duties. 

With  much  of  the  purposed  motive  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
we  may  also  sympathize.  The  goal  at  which  they  aim 
is  one  from  which  every  parasitic  and  unfair  privilege 
shall  be  cut  out.  I  asked  one  of  the  best  of  them, 
"  What  ultimately  do  you  want?  "  "  I  want  a  world," 
he  said,  "in  which  every  man  shall  get  exactly  what 
he  earns  and  all  he  earns;— a  world  in  which  no  man 
can  live  on  the  labor  of  another." 

It  is  not  conceivable  that  any  rational  person  should 
deny  the  justice  and  the  reasonableness  of  that  ideal. 
Every  step  toward  it  is  a  step  nearer  a  decent  and  more 
self-respecting  society.  But  progress  toward  those 
larger  equalities  is  very  little  helped  by  stating  far  off 
ends.  To  play  imaginatively  with  ideal  perfections 
is  easy  to  the  laziest  of  our  faculties.  We  are,  however, 
not  here  in  the  sphere  of  poetry,  but  in  the  sphere  of 
suggested  social  reconstruction.  Never  till  we  reach 
the  question  of  means,  measures,  methods,  is  there  the 
slightest  test  of  wisdom  among  those  entering  upon 
tasks   so  formidable.     Customs,   institutions,   and, 


4 


■  I 


'    1 


ji. 

j   i| 

i     : 

:;  i 

r  1 

"  , 

k  4 

!  . 

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*  t 


234  AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 

above  aU,  the  habits  and  thoughts  of  men  have  to  be 
changed  before  one  faltering  step  can  be  taken  toward 
ultimate  goals. 

Admitting  that  as  shockers  they  do  the  hard,  seM- 
sacrificing  work  of  necessary  agitation  and  awakening, 
they  bring  no  promise  of  constructive  purpose.  The 
heated  energies  of  "direct  action"  should  be  held 
in  real  restraint  by  some  great  aim  Uke  that  which 
cooperation  offers.  This  "together-movement"  is 
now  permanently  at  home  in  several  countries.  It 
assumes  many  forms  that  offer  immediate  foothold 
for  further  growths.  It  is  also  a  movement  of  future 
ideal  promise,  far  more  powerful  to  the  imagination 
than  all  the  mythical  incantations  of  Mr.  George 

Sorel. 

If  any  man  may  be  said  to  be  the  founder  of  Syndi- 
caUsm,  it  is  probably  Fernand  Pelloutier.  He  seems 
to  have  inspired  profound  respect  in  every  man  who 
knew  him.  He  was  first  to  show  the  real  power  of  the 
united  unions  in  getting  things  directly  for  themselves, 
rather  than  by  appeal  to  shifty  politicians,  even  of  the 
socialist  groups.  His  work  was  among  the  Labor 
Exchanges  (Bourses  du  Travail), »  some  of  which  had, 
like  their  Italian  brothers,  tested  cooperation.  His 
faith  and  hope  in  the  future  of  this  "democratized 
industry  "  sustained  him  like  a  religion.  Knowing  well 
that  his  life  was  to  be  cut  short  by  fatal  disease,  he 
worked  with  serene  passion  for  the  coming  triumph  of 
cooperation  until  the  end.  Now  it  is  the  supreme 
value  of  this  ideal,  that  those  who  hold  it  are  in- 
fluenced in  their  choice  of  means  and  methods.    If  we 

1  His  Histoire  des  bourses  du  travail,  was  published  in  Paris,  in  1902. 


.i  **  '■■  ■'.K    •■-•■■■ii.i 


.'•►»... 


THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  AWAKENER 


^35 


,? 


are  to  be  trained  to  work  with  each  other,  rather  than 
competitively  against  each  other;  if  we  are  to  sub- 
stitute "democratic  for  aristocratic  management;"  if 
labor  groups  are  to  assume  the  heavy  risks  of  direction 
as  well  as  possible  losses,  then  the  one  fatal  thing  is 
not  to  educate  labor  for  its  coming  duties.  In  the 
light  of  this  imperative  need,  all  practices  will  be 
tested.  Strikes,  boycott  and  sabotage  will  be  curbed 
and  made  severely  incidental  to  something  greater 
than  themselves.  These  negations  will  have  no  insane 
and  indiscriminate  recommendation,  as  our  I.  W.  W. 
now  give  them  m  the  United  States.  Positive  virtues 
will  be  kept  at  the  front.  From  Pelloutier  to  Odon 
For  this  imperious  necessity  of  training  and  education 
seems  to  have  been  felt  by  a  few  leading  spirits. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  Sorel  himself  forgets  his 
"saving  pessimism,"  his  "Illusions  of  Progress"  on 
which  he  writes  a  book,  his  "Myths"  and  "fighting 
virtues,"  for  calm  discussion  of  the  possibilities  of 
cooperative  credit  in  Raiffeisen  banks  that  has  freed 
an  army  of  small  farmers  from  the  clutch  of  the  usurer. 

As  economic  instructor,  it  is  the  one  commanding 
service  of  working  cooperation,  that  it  teaches  labor 
the  functions  of  business.  It  not  only  brings  out  the 
nature  of  market  risks  and  the  need  of  managers' 
ability,  but  it  puts  every  active  member  instantly  to 
school  on  the  fundamental  questions  of  property.  No 
profitable  moment  can  be  spent  in  discussing  Socialism 
apart  from  the  nature  and  function  of  interest,  rent 
and  profits. 

Wherever  Socialism  has  created  its  own  cooperative 
business  in  distribution,  production,  banking,  it  has 


4  11 


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I 


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■T^UXJ^^m 


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i' 

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i: 


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1 

i 

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t 

j 

236 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


at  once    to   deal   practically   with   all    these    vital 
issues. 

A  cooperative  village  is  quick  to  learn  that  all  its 
inhabitants  create  their  ground  rent  and  therefore  rent 
should  go  to  their  community  and  not  to  any  speculat- 
ing individual.  They  are  as  quick  to  learn  that  private 
interes'  on  money  is  quite  another  matter.  They 
learn  that,  at  least  under  capitalism,  it  has  its  uses. 
They  learn  that  if  ever  interest  is  to  pass  away,  it 
cannot  be  until  capital  is  far  more  widely  diffused 
than  now. 

They  learn  to  drop  empty  and  barren  formulas  like 
"money  cannot  breed  money"  and  face  the  plain  fact. 
"Shall  I  lend  my  savings  of  100  francs  to  the  Coopera- 
tive^ Our  manager  needs  it  and  asks  me  for  it.  If  I 
lend  it  to  him  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  store,  I 
meantime  cannot  use  it;  neither  can  I  get  anything 
from  it  in  the  bank  where  I  now  get  three  per  cent." 

In  exactly  these  terms,  I  have  heard  Belgian  and 
Danish  Socialists  talk  about  interest.  They  learned 
thus  intimately  to  face  one  of  the  great  questions  on 
which  the  future  of  Socialism  will  turn.  Even  if 
interest  and  profits  are  now  necessary  evils  under  the 
perversions  of  capitalism— can  they  be  altogether  dis- 
pensed with  under  Socialism?  Or  will  interest  and 
profits,  stripped  of  present  abuses,  still  have  such 
utilities  in  so  stimulating  savings  as  to  justify  their 
continued  use,  even  when  the  monopolies  have  been 
socialized?  That  Syndicalism  at  its  highest  should 
have  recognized  an  ideal  so  admirable  puts  it  safely 
beyond  cheap  and  sniffy  criticism.  That  such  ideal 
should  have  developed  where  the  movement  is  oldest, 


■r-  ?^;w^^immBsaas^BSi-s;::w9wsm^mL  ij^;:m};^:a^^!^rssmas^ 


Ill 


THE  SERVICK  OF  THE  AWAKENER 


2.^7 


may  warrant  the  hope  that  time  and  ex])crience  may 
give  it  sanity  elsewhere. 

This,  however,  raises  an  awkward  difficulty.  Syn- 
dicalism is  in  no  way  distinguished  from  other  move- 
ments by  this  ideal  expression  of  the  cooperative 
brotherhood.  At  whatever  {K)int  its  main  energies 
pass  into  constructive  cooperation,  it  is  at  one  with 
many  other  daring  hopes  and  efforts  that  for  two 
generations  have  looked  toward  the  "democratizing 
of  life  and  opportunity  by  democratizing  industry." 
Let  it  be  said  again,  there  is  no  proper  or  fmal  estimate 
of  any  new  social  movement  by  the  ideal  end  it  sets 
before  us.  Far  more  is  it  to  be  judged  by  its  practical 
and  intermediate  measures.  It  is  these  chiefly  that 
set  Syndicalism  apart  from  others  in  the  field  and  by 
these  is  it  mainly  to  be  judged. 

I  listened  in  Seattle  to  an  orator  in  the  street  flaying 
capitalism  and  trade  unions  with  an  impartial  lash. 
When  he  stepped  panting  from  his  perch,  I  asked  him 
what  he  was  really  after  in  the  special  strike  for  which 
he  was  pleading.  "What  are  we  after?  Why,  we  are 
after  that  mill.  We  have  made  it  and  every  machine 
in  it.    It  is  a  product  of  our  labor  and  it  belongs  to  us." 

As  if  driving  spikes,  he  had  told  his  audience  how 
this  was  to  be  brought  about.  He  made  no  mystery 
of  "direct  action"  and  sabotage.  To  and  fro  among 
the  crowd  men  passed,  selling  literature  in  which  these 
measures  were  set  forth  with  authoritative  detail, 
quite  in  the  manner  of  the  orator. 

To  my  suggestion  that  deep  behind  the  mill  in 
question  w^ere  centuries  of  socially  sanctioned  forms 
of  property— that  plans,  organization,  purchase  of 


it 


'1 


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I 


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''■•• 
{ 

i 

1 

r     I 
t 


238 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


machinery,  creating  a  market,  with  all  the  risks  m- 
volved,  and  that  these  also  were  a  part  of  his  problem, 
—the  only  answer  I  could  get  was  that  they  were  not 
engaged  in  splitting  hairs.     "Capitalism,"  he  said, 
"has  us  by  the  throat,  and  we  shall  act  accordingly." 
It  is  wholly  safe  to  say  that  no  body  of  workingmen 
in  the  world,  who  for  two  years  had  achieved  even 
modest  success  in  productive-cooperation,  would  have 
seen  so  little  of  the  real  problem  or  attempted  its 
solution  by  methods  that,  for  the  most  part,  merely 
wasted  hard-earned  wealth  created  by  employer,  boss, 
and  "labor"  alike. 


l^s 


'^^sasttEni 


.) 


XIX 

SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 

It  is  true  that  the  I.  W.  W.  can  have  stable  relations 
neither  with  the  socialist  party  nor  with  existing  trade 
unionism.  In  tumultuous  days  like  those  at  Lawrence, 
when  labor  and  capital  are  at  each  other's  throats, 
Socialist  and  Syndicalist  will  join  hands.  Money  will 
pour  in  from  the  general  public,  including  every  class, 
"idle  rich,"  "intellectuals,"  and  even  from  active 
business  men  far  removed  from  local  heats  and  bias. 
This  miscellaneous  response  may  carry  no  imaginable 
approval  of  I.  W.  W.  tenets  or  practices.  It  may  be 
solely  from  the  conviction  that  local  employers  and 
public  authorities  are  using  their  strength  in  bad 
temper  or  brutally  and  unjustly  against  the  labor  side 
in  the  fight.  I  have  pointed  to  the  growth  of  this 
vague  but  powerful  sympathy  as  a  new  factor  no 
longer  to  be  ignored.  If  it  reach  a  certain  pitch, 
nothing  can  keep  it  out  of  politics  and  from  the  uses 
to  which  politicians  will  put  it.  Socialist  party  mem- 
bers will  help  the  I.  W.  W.  at  the  points  of  contest 
precisely  as  this  general  public  did  at  Lawrence,  but 
in  every  month  that  passes,  the  logic  of  all  that  is 
clearly  distinctive  of  the  I.  W.  W.  will  show  a  deepen- 
ing gulf  between  them  and  all  Socialism  based  upon 
and  committed  to  political  action.  W.  D.  Haywood 
is  now  on  the  Nationi  Executive  Board  of  the 
socialist  party.    There  is  as  little  intellectual  consist- 

239 


r 


■:       f 


in 

■■ ; 


J  40 


AMERICAN   SYNDICALISM 


r 


•  i 


ency,  either  for  him  or  for  the  party,  that  he  should 
be  there,  as  that  he  should  be  in  the  Repubhcan 
Party  or  the  Catholic  church.    This  is  not  to  defame 
him,  but  to  define  him.    He  is  as  much  out  of  place  on 
that  Board  as  an  orthodox  Single  Taxer.     In  his 
writings  and  speeches,   he  represents  with  extraor- 
dinary fidelity  the  primitive,  undisciphned  forces  m 
Syndicalism.    With  epigrammatic  skill,  he  voices  this 
fast  emerging  and  plaintive  aspiration  which  lowlier 
and  ignored  masses  of  working  men  and  women  are 
coming  to  feel;  those  without  votes;  those  that  no 
trade  union  would  have  for  the  asking;  those  who  can 
be  shoved  aside  and  "put  upon"  because  they  neither 
speak  our  tongue  nor  know  our  ways-these  half  be- 
wildered legions  become  articulate  in  this  agitator 
who  is  to  that  extent  educator.    They  recogmze  some- 
thing in  him  which  feeds  hungers  that  in  some  way 
have  to  be  fed.     It  is  a  craving  which  no  church, 
catholic  or  protestant,  can  satisfy.     Its  urgeyy  is 
untouched  by  religious  appeal  because  the  heart  of  1 
is  economic.    No  delayed  other-worldly  appeal  will 

divert  it.  ,        j  „ 

The  speech  or  symbol  that  can  reach  and  rouse 
them  is  not  meanly  to  be  thought  of,  nor  should  any 
Pharisaical  arrogance  set  such  an  one  wholly  at  naught 
it  is  because  this  heart  of  reality  is  in  the  movement 
as  a  whole,  that  our  problem  with  the  I.  W.  W  is  so 
beset  by  perplexities.    There  is  much  in  its  motive  to 
command  our  respect.    In  it.  active  striving,  there  is 
much  with  which  society  will  have  to  cooperate  or 
sulTer  from  its  lack  of  intelligent  sympathy.     The 
proletariat,  the  "fourth  estate,"  or  by  whatever  name 


t 

I!         'I 


i  i 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


241 


we  call  it,  has  in  some  way  to  be  brought  nearer  to  the 
sources  of  economic  security.     The  insistence  that 
this  should  be  done  and  the  belief  in  its  possibilities,  if 
society  will  use  the  resources  at  its  disposal,  have  now 
become  a  great  and  passionate  faith.    Every  higher 
spiritual  movement  in  the  politics  and  religion  of  our 
time  reflects  this  faith.    It  is  a  service  so  great  and  so 
difficult  that  no  one  who  can  help  it  is  to  be  outlawed. 
For  example,  we  shall  never  take  one  enlightened 
step  in  reconstrucring  the  futilities  of  present  criminal 
procedure,  until  we  learn  to  cooperate  in  a  new  spirit 
with  those  who  have  suffered  inside  the  prison.    No 
m  T  on  the  outside  is  good  enough  or  wise  enough  to 
"i^l^resent"   them.     They   should   have   their  own 
rcpresentarivc    to  instruct  and  guide  us  by  that  ex- 
perience which  no  outsider  ever  knows  because  he  has 
not  lived  it. 

As  little  do  people,  economically  secure,  know  the 
life  of  the  "fourth  estate."  Our  pretence  to  know  it 
makes  our  ignorance  the  more  dangerous.  These 
used  and  ignored  masses  should  also  have  their  own 
representadves.  All  attempts  to  prevent  this  are 
now  too  late.  Very  imperfectly,  but  with  its  own  in- 
vincible reality,  the  syndicalist  srirring  in  the  world 
speaks  for  the  weak  and  neglected  man>.  This  part 
of  the  message  we  must  understand.  We  must 
"recognize"  it,  as  those  eager  and  willing  to  cooperate 
with  every  climbing  desire  to  equalize  opportunity 
in  the  world.  In  no  other  way  shall  we  either  teach 
ourselves  or  carry  help  to  those  who  need  it. 

It  can  be  most  confidently  set  down,  that  with  the 
whole  list  of  social  "remedies "—profit  sharing,  ar- 


4  ^1 


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w^m 


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ri 


11 

t! 


!      'J  ' 

'  f       i 


34a 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


h 

, 

t ' 

» 

^' 

<'  1 

j. 

.1 


bitration,  "welfare  work"  in  all  its  varieties,— the 
abiding  successes  will  depend  upon  the  degree  and 
intelligent  heartiness  with  which  the  representatives 
of  labor  are  encouraged  to  cooperate  with  business 
management.  An  authoritative  and  one-sided  as- 
cendency in  these  things  was  once  possible  and  in 
spots  may  be  so  still,  but  their  day,  for  much  of  our 
industry,  is  gone  and  soon  will  end  for  the  whole  of  it. 
In  thirty  years  we  have  seen  scores  of  these  fine 
schemes  wrecked  because  of  lurking  insincerity  in  the 
proclaimed  objects. 

In  the  larger  and  more  general  field  of  social  contact 
and  discussion,  it  is  as  clumsily  fatal  to  act  in  the  old 
absolurist  spirit,  as  to  attempt  railway  management 
in  the  "  public-be-damned "  manner  of  the  earlier 
magnates  of  transportation.  The  old  feeling  may  still 
be  there  but  it  can  neither  be  publicly  expressed  nor 
successfully  acted  upon.  They  have  now  to  cooperate 
with  government  and  every  day  will  be  forced  into 
completer  cooperation.  In  many  countries  not  a  step 
can  now  be  taken  in  most  social  legislation  without 
the  assenting  cooperation  with  Socialism. 

No  considerable  force  appearing  among  us  seeking 
social  betterment  is  to  be  held  off  and  treated  like  a 
marauder  or  an  outcast.  Invariably  these  forces 
bring  with  them  idealisms  that  no  society  can  afford 
to  lose.  Much  of  the  conscious  plan  and  method  of 
Syndicalism  is  whimsically  chimerical.  But  in  it  and 
through  it  is  something  as  sacred  as  the  best  of  tlic 
great  dreamers  have  ever  brought  us.  In  the  total  of 
this  movement,  the  deeper,  inner  fact  seems  to  me  10 
be  its  nearness  to  and  sympathy  with  that  most 


^' ■  — '''^-~ — ~-  ^>'  — — . 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


243 


heavy  laden  and  long  enduring  mass  of  common 
toilers.  Alike  to  our  peril  and  to  our  loss,  shall  we 
ignore  this  fact.  Steadily  to  see  it  and  keep  it  in 
remembrance  is  the  beginning  of  such  practical  wis- 
dom as  we  may  show  toward  it. 

In  large  numbers,  especially  in  the  rank  and  file,  are 
those  who,  through  some  experience,  have  really 
wakened  to  the  tragic  ugliness  of  poverty  and  in- 
security. 

In  the  actual  facts  of  working  Syndicalism  in  our 
very  midst,  the  idea  as  motive  may  be  seen  in  any 
overwrought  community  where  the  I.  W.  W.  holds 
sway.  Deeply  to  convince  any  ardent  and  generous 
nature  that  our  own  capitalistic  "law  and  order"  is 
desperately  and  hopelessly  corrupt:  that  it  condemns 
day  by  day  multitudes  of  guiltless  workers  to  a  life 
degrading  to  the  individual  and  perilous  to  the  family, 
and  that  their  condition  steadily  grows  worse,  is  in 
itself  an  appeal  to  heroic  virtues.  What  is  one  utterly 
^one  over  to  this  belief  to  do?  What  steps  are  wise 
advisers  to  take  with  such  as  these?  Several  times 
personally,  I  have  had  to  face  this :  once  with  a  lad  of 
twenty  who  had  given  himself  with  complete  and 
tremulous  devotion  to  a  cause  that  seemed  to  him 
more  sacred  than  any  religion  of  which  he  knew.  He 
was  moved  by  an  emotion  so  clean  and  intense  that 
death  on  a  barricade  would  have  frightened  him  as 
little  as  a  girl's  smile.  Awk^'ardly,  and  with  stutter- 
ing apologies,  I  could  only  try  to  prove  how  and  why 
I  thought  he  was  mistaken.  It  was  easy  to  see  while 
I  talked,  that  he  was  listening  to  other  voices  that  he 
respected  more,  and  more  gladly  heard.    It  was  like 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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telling  a  young  twelfth  century  Crusader,  fired  and 
panting  for  departure,  that  he  was  imprudent,  that 
the  facts  were  all  against  him,  that  he  was  spoiling  a 
career,  ,hat  the  holy  sepulchre  was  not  after  all  in  any 
real  peril.  A  young  college  woman  told  me  that  the 
"new  movement"  came  to  her  like  a  great  light;  that 
it  had  given  her  such  a  peace  in  her  heart  as  she  had 
never  known.  "All  that  I  can  give  and  become,"  she 
said,  "goes  to  discredit  a  society  in  which  one  cannot 
ever  have  self-respect."  Young  Christians  doubtless 
spoke  like  that  when  to  be  known  as  Christian  was 
to  be  marked  for  torture.  In  very  considerable  num- 
bers, the  like  of  these  are  there  in  our  I.  W.  W.  crusade. 
They  are  practically  inseparable  from  those  with 
coarser  ignorances  and  meaner  motives.  Unless  these 
idealisms  are  held  rather  tenderly  in  mind,  we  shall 
neither  see  nor  estimate  the  larger  movement  with 
either  truth,  justice,  or  safety  to  ourselves. 

At  the  risk  of  weariness  to  the  reader,  it  must  be 
repeated  that  present  labor  troubles  differ  from  those 
in  the  past  chiefly  in  this,  that  they  now  develop  in  a 
new  and  changed  atmosphere.  They  attract  a  wider 
and  more  powerful  public  sympathy  which  enables 
the  politician  to  play  in  them  a  new  and  more  eflfective 
role.  It  does  not  help  us  to  throw  the  blame  upon  the 
politician,  or  would-be  politician.  Every  whit  of  his 
strength  is  in  the  public  opinion  tha<.  he  merely  re- 
flects. No  politician  who  took  a  hand  in  the  recent 
strike  on  the  Boston  Elevated  had  an  atom  of  real 
influence  except  what  general  opinion  gave  him. 

If  this  had  been  recognized,  many  a  public  service 
corporation    would    have  been   spar-  d   humiliation. 


^•M 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


245 


A  dozen  towns  have  been  amazed  and  indignant  that 
they  must  submit  to  a  prying  invasion  from  the 
Government,  from  politicians,  and  an  army  of  outside 
investigators.  This  enlargement  and  intensifying  of 
popular  sympathy  is  the  first  capital  fact  which  no 
vase  employer  or  owner  will  in  future  ignore.  The 
spread  of  this  sympathy  will  compel  business  manage- 
ment in  all  conspicuous  business  to  revalue  the  whole 
human  side  of  its  problem.  I  do  not  mean  that  it 
should  be  friendlier  or  more  philanthropic.  I  mean 
that  the  fatal  note  of  arbitrariness  and  priggish 
aloofness  has  got  to  go.  Labor,  with  its  powers  of 
collective  bargaining,  must  be  met  in  a  spirit  that  is 
strictly  cooperative — cooperative  in  the  sense  of 
some  recognized  equality  between  the  status  of  labor 
and  that  of  capital.  Business  must  put  as  high  ability 
into  the  human  side  as  into  the  financial.  It  has  got 
to  drop  a  good  deal  of  its  pride,  secrecy,  and  airs  of 
superiority. 

Whether  it  has  to  face  the  trade  union,  the  Social- 
ists, or  the  more  revolutionary  I.  W.  W.,  they  must 
one  and  all  be  met  naturally  and,  above  all,  humanly. 
In  the  strict  sense,  they  have  got  to  be  "recognized" 
and  openly  dealt  with  for  the  sole  reason  that  the 
human  side  of  business  can  in  no  other  way  be  wisely 
dealt  with. 

In  all  that  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  about  out- 
breaks in  thirteen  Eastern  and  Western  communities, 
the  I.  W.  W.  got  its  grip  where  trade  unionism  had 
been  beaten,  or  had  no  existence,  or  had  been  so 
weakened  as  to  offer  little  resistance.  Trade  unions 
as  powerful  as  those  in  Germany,  where  they  are  in 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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closest  sympathetic  touch  with  a  disciplined  socialism, 
leave  syndicalism  without  a  foothold,  except  for  a  few 
harmless  eccentrics. 

In  France  many  of  the  unions  are  notoriously  so 
unstable  and  unbuttressed  by  funds  as  to  give  every 
advantage  to  syndicalist  experiments.  To  hold  office 
in  a  "pure  and  simple"  trade  union,  is  to  be  excluded 
from  I.  W.  W.  membership.  There  are  no  editors 
admitted  except  those  on  their  own  journals.  Though 
their  entire  conception  is  based  upon  trained  skill 
within  the  shops  and  everywhere  "at  the  point  of 
production,"  they  glory  in  their  appeal  to  the  un- 
skilled—to those  hitherto  unreached  by  labor  associa- 
tions. 

But  a  few  months  after  their  first  convention  in 
1905,  they  attacked  the  hotels  and  restaurants  in 
Goldfield,  Nevada,  In  rapid  succession  follow 
Youngstown,  Ohio;  Portland,  Oregon;  and  again 
Goldfield  in  1907,  where  they  claim  to  have  secured 
eight  hours  and  $4.50  per  day.  We  have  throughout 
the  same  story  of  enfeebled  unionism  or  none  at  all. 
If  the  American  Federation  has  some  partial  hold, 
that  of  itself  brings  war  with  the  I.  W.  W.,  as  at 
Skowhegan  Mills  in  1907,  Youngstown  and  Bridge- 
port. To  the  I.  W.  W.  any  unionist  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  is  a  scab  and  an  outlaw. 

In  the  desperate  eleven  weeks'  strike  in  1909  at 
McKees  Rocks,  Pa.,  unionism  had  been  crippled. ^ 

'  It  was  at  this  strike  that  the  I.  W.  W.  met  the  most  eflBcient  State 
Constabulary  yet  evolved  in  the  States.  Between  seven  and  eight 
thousand  men  with  14  or  15  nationalities  met  this  body.  On  the 
killing  of  the  first  striker,  the  war  was  on.  The  General  Secretary  of 
the  I.  W.  W.  thus  comments  on  it: 


fi^Jj^^ 


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isrw. 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


247 


At  Lawrence,  by  express  purpose,  unionism  had 
been  stifled.  "This  was  great  luck  for  us,"  as  one  ex- 
pressed it.  "Gompers'  fakirs  had  been  kept  out  and 
we  had  our  chance." 

New  Bedford  followed.  I  met  one  hurrying  to  this 
new  field.  "We  will  put  New  Bedford  on  the  map, 
too,"  he  said.  But  it  did  not  then  get  on  to  the  map. 
With  bad  generalship,  the  invaders  fell  upon  a  mill 
long  organized.  These  men  felt  so  competent  to 
manage  their  own  affairs  that  the  failure  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  was  immediate  and  complete. 

There  is  but  one  fair  inference  from  this  wide  expe- 
rience. If  capitalist  management,  itself  endowed  with 
every  advantage  of  organization,  deliberately  refuses 
it  to  labor,  capital  will  suffer.  It  will  suffer  because 
public  opinion  and  the  political  action  which  that 
opinion  reflects,  will  more  and  more  take  sides  with 
labor  in  every  struggle  that  becomes  conspicuous. 
This  wider  public  will  side  even  with  turbulent  and 
disorganized  masses  like  the  I.  W.  W.  It  will  be  said, 
and  justly  said,  "The  fight  is  too  grossly  unfair." 
The  public  will  say  this  and  act  upon  it,  in  spite  of  all 

"The  strike  committee  then  served  notice  upon  the  commander  of 
the  Cossacks  that  for  every  striker  killed  or  injured  by  the  cossacks 
the  life  of  a  cossack  would  be  exacted  in  return.  And  that  they  were 
not  at  all  concerned  as  to  which  cossack  paid  the  penalty,  but  that  a 
life  for  a  life  would  be  exacted.  The  strikers  kept  their  word.  On  the 
next  assault  by  the  cossacks,  several  of  the  constabulary  were  killed 
and  a  number  wounded.  The  cossacks  were  driven  from  the  streets 
and  into  the  plants  of  the  company.  An  equal  number  of  strikers 
were  killed  and  about  50  wounded  in  the  battle.  This  ended  the  kill- 
ing on  both  sides  during  the  remainder  of  the  strike.  For  the  first 
time  in  their  existence  the  cossacks  were  'tamed.'  The  McKees 
Rocks  strike  resulted  in  a  complete  victory  for  the  strikers." 


I 


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SiSSSS155^5^^3?^5!SS?SrS?S^B?^S^^ 


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AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


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atrocities  by  McNamaras  caught  and  uncaught.  It 
will  so  act  because  it  has  learned  that  point  for  point, 
capital  has  its  own  ugly  record  of  lawless  misdemeanor 
that  is  at  least  as  threatening  to  social  peace  and  wel- 
fare as  all  the  ill-bred  violence  of  labor. 

Such  resources  has  great  capital,  that  it  has  been 
able  to  cloak  its  evil  doing  in  veiled,  legal  decencies, 
while  labor  must  go  to  its  sinning  naked  and  exposed. 
This  too  the  public  has  learned.    It  has  learned  it  so 
well  that  conspicuous  business  can  no  longer  act  in 
the  spirit  of  "I'll  manage  my  business  as  I  like." 
This  public  has  also  come  to  feel  that  all  the  gilded 
welfare  schemes  which  only  screen  secret  and  ar- 
bitrary power  over  labor  have  probably  had  their  day. 
The  great  and  healing  resources  left  us  are  those  of 
"social  insurance,"  meant  primarily  to  secure  labor 
against  those  dire  fatalities— sickness,  accident,  un- 
employment, and  death.    The  best  of  them  are  far 
more  generous  and  more  efficient  for  those  insured 
than  any  government  insurance  in  the  world.    They 
are  open  to  the  freest  investigation  by  every  employee. 
Whether  capitalism  has  yet  a  loag  life  or  a  short  one, 
these  private  schemes  are  of  very  highest  value.    They 
are  educating  the  race  in  the  great  art  of  self -protection. 
If  Socialism  were  Ir  come  to-morrow,  it  would  use  these 
institutions  as  models.  With  all  their  excellence,  there 
is  one  drawback.    More  and  more  labor  suspects  them. 
As  they  depend  utterly  upon  the  willing  cooperation 
of  labor,  this  gangrene  of  suspicion  sets  too  narrow 
limits  to  their  widest  efficiency  as  "remedies." 

We  are  thus  driven  to  one  further  step.    This  can 
have  no  statement  except  as  a  general  principle,  but 


..  .•JK<:~^'«iK ''ir^j^jRLSiB 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


249 


it  is  one  in  the  light  of  which  every  special  welfare 
plan  may  be  safely  tested.  It  is  this— In  these  larger 
concerns  wage  earners  from  now  on  must  be  made  to 
understand  that  the  business  is  in  some  sense  theirs; 
that  they  shall  have  their  own  genuine  representation 
in  the  management.  The  beginnings  will  be  very 
modest,  but  they  must  be  so  open  and  free  from 
dissembling,  as  to  give  labor  faith  enough  to  warrant 
its  own  cooperation.  It  is  because  these  beginnings 
must  be  so  modest,  that  the  door  should  be  fearlessly 
open  to  as  much  increased  labor  representation  as 
results  justify. 

This  principle  of  a  progressive  participation  of  labor 
in  management,  forces  the  frankest  "recognition" 
that  every  party  concerned  must  be  taken  (through 
its  representatives)  into  the  inner  councils.  This 
involves  a  publicity  of  business  method  and  conditions 
which  labor  and  the  public  now  demand.  The  sus- 
picions of  the  public  are  nearly  as  aggressive  as  those 
of  labor.  Not  a  month  passes  that  this  suspicion  does 
not  deepen. 

The  most  impelling  purpose  in  the  movement  called 
Syndicalism  is  its  powerful,  half-blind  urgency  toward 
the  democratizing  of  economic  power  in  the  world. 
From  now  on  politics  will  more  and  more  be  used  to 
this  end.  As  the  old  enemies,  Democrat  and  Repub- 
lican, in  Milwaukee  fall  into  each  other's  arms  in  order 
to  drive  Socialists  from  the  City  Hall,  we  shall  else- 
where see  the  larger  interests  of  property  oblivious  of 
old  party  lines,  uniting  in  their  defense  against  the 
general  socialist  encroachment.  This  encroachment 
is  impulsive:  it  is  not  sagacious  but  it  rises  higher  and 


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350 


AMERICAN  SYNDICALISM 


higher  among  the  people  against  the  whole  inner 
kingdom  of  hedged  and  secret  privilege,  out  of  which 
inequalities   spring   which  rational   men   no  longer 
justify.    There  will  be  infinite  variation  of  opinion  as 
to  ways  and  means  through  which  these  too  absolute 
economic  powers  are  to  be  brought  under  social  con- 
trol.   That  in  some  way  this  has  to  be  done,  few  men 
of  detached  and  disinterested  intelligence  any  longer 
doubt.    To  do  this  work  legally  and  in  the  spirit  of  a 
social  legislation  which  at  last  enrolls  in  its  service 
the  very  best  that  science,  education  and  a  cleaner 
politics  have  to  offer,  is  the  ennobUng  hope  now 

before  us. 

Within  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  a  dozen  countries, 
the  actual  vork  in  establishing  new  and  permanent 
standards  of  health,  education  and  opportunity  are 
the  supreme  achievements  of  our  time,  because  they 
lie  at  the  foundaUon  of  any  and  every  attempt  at 
social  reconstruction  which  has  the  slightest  promise 
of  performing  that  hardest  of  all  tasks-democratizmg 
economic  power  and  privilege.  Of  the  time  required 
for  this  task;  of  the  difficulties  involved;  of  the  long 
educaUonal  and  disciplinary  needs,  the  wisest  among 
us  have  but  shadowy  knowledge. 

As  for  constructive  suggestion,  our  I.  W.  W.  have 
so  little  as  to  embarrass  the  most  indulgent  critic. 
In  their  convulsive  and  incendiary  appeal  to  the  for- 
gotten masses,  there  is,  nevertheless,  a  saving  utility 
that  should  bring  the  movement  within  our  sym- 
pathetic acceptance.  To  the  utmost,  we  should  work 
with  it  as  those  determined  to  learn,  from  whatever 
source  the  message  come. 


SOME  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN 


25' 


i 


Of  this  total  rising  protest  against  sources  of  un- 
natural inequalities  in  wealth  and  opportunity,  the 
I.  W.  W.  is  at  most  a  very  tiny  part.  It  is  yet  enough 
that  they  arc  in  it.  and  that  they  are  fully  aware  of  the 
fact.  For  the  ''irst  time  they  are  so  consciously  related 
to  this  spirit  of  revolt  and  to  the  delicate  industrial 
mechanism  which  gives  them  power,  that  only  a 
captious  temper  will  refuse  them  hearing.  Not  by 
any  churlish  aloofness  are  they  to  be  educated,  nor 
are  we  ourselves  to  be  educated.  In  all  our  efTorts  to 
penetrate  these  mysteries  of  social  reformation,  a 
common  flarkness  is  over  us  all. 

Not  in  the  least  are  those  who  most  materially  profit 
by  the  present  system  to  be  held  in  awe  as  possessors 
of  special  and  exclusive  enlightenment.  There  is  also 
a  "wisdom  of  the  humble"  endowed  with  the  1  gh  au- 
thority of  age-long  suffering  and  experience.  It  is  even 
to  such  as  these  that  a  new  power  is  now  passing.  It 
will  not  be  taken  from  them.  It  will  be  used  in  folly 
and  cruelty,  if  society  is  also  foolish  and  cruel. 

It  is  the  final  conaemnation  of  the  old  lone-hand, 
fighting  spirit  in  industry,  that  it  at  once  creates  new 
and  deadlier  sources  of  antagonism.  It  revives  on 
the  spot,  not  public,  but  private  warfare,  with  all  its 
contagious  treacheries. 

The  sole  cure  for  these  barbaric  survivals  is  the 
cooperative  intention  developed  into  habits  of  thought 
and  action.  This  intention  need  no  lon^^er  expend 
itself  in  vague  benevolence.  New  organs  are  at  hand 
in  which  it  may  be  embodied. 

If  we  add  to  this  the  final  best  step  of  all— the  open, 
declared  purpose  to  admit  labor  to  management  first 


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AMER1C.\N  SYNDICALISM 


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at  safe  and  possible  points  with  all  that  this  means  of 
banished  secrets;  to  admit  it  fearlessly  and  with  no 
reserves  as  far  as  labor  proves  its  fitness;  we  then  and 
there  connect  ourselves  with  the  cooperative  regime. 
This  does  not  close  che  fist,  it  opens  the  arms.  It  is 
the  essence  of  this  cooperative  intention— not  to  ex- 
clude, but  to  include  labor  in  the  control  of  business; 
courageously  to  give  it  every  opportunity  of  training 
to  this  end.  It  wiU  require  the  severe  schooling  of  a 
century— but  every  strong  man  who  openly  sets  his 
face  that  way,  who  tries  consentingly  and  forbearingly 
to  prove  the  policy  wise  is  the  helper  to  whom  we 

look. 

With  this  spirit  and  purpose  we  merely  meet 
Syndicalism  ut  its  highest  and  best,  rather  than  at 
its  lowest  and  worst.  At  its  ideal  level,  we  take  it  at 
its  own  word.  This  ideal  is  also  cooperation  with  the 
long  educational  drill  which  that  implies.  To  unite 
with  that  ideal,  to  bear  with  the  defeats  incident  to 
its  slow  unfolding,  is  to  work  securely  with  order  and 
progress,  and  not  against  them.  It  is  to  work  as 
securely  with  the  ever  wider  and  more  intelligent 
good  will  of  every  class  and  condition  of  men  on  which 
the  stability  of  social  welfare  must  forever  depend. 


LITERATURE 

There  is  no  attempt  to  give  here  anything  liite  a  complete 
bibliography.  The  books,  pamphlets  and  leaflets  are  those 
which  the  writer  has  found  most  useful  in  this  study.  The  full 
report  of  the  Chicago  Convention  (1905)  has  great  value  to  the 
student  and  may  be  had,  I  think,  through  publishing  centers 
here  indicated. 

American  Literature 

The  volume  referred  to  in  the  text  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Walling. 
"Socialism  As  U  Is,"  Macmillan  &  Co.,  shows  analytical 
power  in  stating  the  issues  from  the  more  revolutionary 
point  of  view  which  gives  it  real  importance  in  the  study 
of  syndicalism. 

Dr.  Louis  Levine's  "Labor  Movement  in  France,"  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  191 2,  is  admirable  in  its  impartiality. 

Pamphlets 

"The  I.  W.  W.;  Its  History,  Structure  and  Methods,"  Vincent 

St.  John.    Price  10  cents. 
"Why  Strikes  Are  Lost;  How  to  Win,"  Wm.  E.  Traulmann. 

Price  5  cents. 
"The  Farm  Laborer  and  the  City  Worker,"  Edward  McDonald. 

Price  s  cents. 

Leaflets 

"Political  Parties  and  the  I.  W.  W.,"  Vincent  St.  John. 
"Getting  Recognition,"  A.  M.  Stirton. 
"Two  Kinds  of  Unionism,"  Edward  Hammond. 
"Appeal  to  Wage  Workers,  Men  and  Women,"  E.  S.  Nelson. 
"Union  Scabs  and  Others,"  Oscar  Ameringer, 
"War  and  the  Workers,"  Walker  C.  Smith. 
"Address  to  Raibroad  Graders,"  "Rusty"  Mitchell. 

253 


i  i 


(ill 


TIT 


.•■":i^- jr-wa;' 


It  >  I 


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LITERATURE 


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r 


V, 


"The  Tramp  As  a  Homeguard,"  Jean  E.  Spielman. 

"Why  the  A.  F.  of  L.  Cannot  Become  an  Industrial  Union," 

Vincent  St.  John. 
Each  of  above  leaflets,  i  s  cents  per  hundred;  $1.25  per  thousand. 

I.   W.   W.    Publishing    Bureau,   P.   0.   Box    622,   New 

Castle,  Pa. 

"On  the  Firing  Line,"  published  by  The  Industrial  Worker, 
P.  0.  Box  2I2Q,  Spokane,  Washington. 

"One  Big  Union,"  Trautmann. 

"Direct  Action  and  Sabotage,"  Trautmann. 

"Industrial  Union  Methods,"  Trautmann. 

"Industrial  Socialism,"  Haywood  &  Bohn. 

"General  Strike,"  Haywood. 

"Proletarian  and  Petit  Bourgeois,"  Austin  Lewis. 

"  Militant  Proletariat,"  Lewis. 

"  Rise  of  the  American  Proletarian." 

Published  by  Socialist  News  Co.,  342  Third  Ave.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Three  I.  W.  W.  papers  (in  English)  are  "The  Industrial 
Worker,"  (weekly)  $1.00  per  year.  P.  0.  Box  2129,  Spo- 
kane, Washington. 

"Solidarity,"  (weekly)  $1.00.    P.  0.  Box  622,  New  Castle,  Pa. 

By  the  "Detroit  Branch,"  "The  Industrial  Union  News." 
(monthly)  50  cents.    96  Brush  St.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

"The  International  Socialist  Review,"  (monthly)  $1.00.  C. 
H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  118  Kinzie  St.,  Chicago,  is  indispensable  in 
following  the  movement  in  this  country.  W.  D.  Haywood 
is  an  associate  editor  and  frequent  contributor. 


/.  W.  W.  Song  Books 

To  Fan  the  Flames  of  Discontent: 

"Songs  of  Joy!" 

"  Songs  of  Sorrow!" 

"Songs  of  Sarcasm!" 

"Songs  of  the  Miseries  That  Are." 

"  Songs  of  the  Happiness  To  Be." 
May  be  had,    P.  0.  Box  622,  New  Castle,  Pa. 


LITERATURE 


^SS 


English 

"Syndicalism  and  the  General  Strike,"  Arthur  D.  Lewis. 
309  pp.    Publisher,  T.  Fisher  Unwin,  London,  191 2. 

"Syndicalism,"  J.  H.  Harley,  M.  A.  Publisher,  T.  C.  &  E.  C. 
Jack,  London. 

"Syndicalism  and  Labour,"  Sir  Arthur  Clay.  230  pp.  Pub- 
lisher, E.  P.  Button  and  Company,  New  York,  191 1. 

"The  Worker  and  His  Country,"  Fabian  Ware.  288  pp.  Pub- 
lisher, Edward  Arnold,  London,  191 2.  The  author  shows 
strong  sympathy  with  the  syndicalists,  and  has  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  French  movement. 

"The  Miner's  Next  Step."  Robert  Davies  &  Company, 
London, 191 2. 

"Industrial  Unionism  and  the  Mining  Industry,"  George 
Harvey.  Published  by  Socialist  Labour  Party,  28  Forth 
St.,  Edinboro. 

"Syndicalism,"  J.  Ramsay  MacDonald.  Publisher,  Constable, 
London, 191 2. 

"The  Philosopher  of  Change,"  Henri  Bergson.  Publisher 
W.  Carr,  67  Long  Ave,  London. 

This  useful  little  volume  of  90  pp.  is  in  "The  People's  Books" 
series. 


t     I 


1 


French 

'Le  Syndicalisme  Contcmporain,"  A.  Zev..es.  22  Rue  Huy- 
ghens,  Paris,  1911.  An  elaborate  study  of  358  pp.,  es- 
pecially valuable  from  Chapter  V-XI. 

'Syndicalisme  et  Socialismc,"  Hubert  Lagardclle,  Arturo 
Labriola  and  others.     Marcel  Riviere.  30  Rue  Jacob,  Paris. 

'Histoire  des  bourses  du  travail,"  F.  Pelloutier.    Paris,  1902. 

'Le  Sabotage,"  E.  Pouget.    Paris,  1910. 

'Les  bases  du  Syndicalisme,"  E.  Pouget.    Paris. 

'Syndicalisme  revolutionnaire  et  Syndicalisme  r6formiste," 
F61icicn  Challaye.    Paris,  .-Mean,  1909. 

'Anarchisme  individualiste,"  Edward  Berth. 

'  Comment  nous  fcrons  la  Revolution,"  E.  Pataud  et  E.  Pouget. 


11 


<       t' 


,  ii 


1 

i 

't 

t 

1 

\ 

I 

r 


mi 


256 


LITERATURE 


"  A.  B.  C.  Syndicalistc,"  Georges  Yvetot.  3  Rue  de  PondicWry, 

1008.  <»  ,  T> 

"La   Confederation   Gdn^rale  du   TravaU,"   Emile   Pouget. 

Marcel  Riviere,  30  Rue  Jacob,  Paris.  ,  „.  .s 

•L'Aciion  Syndicaliste,"  Victor  Griffuelhes.     Marcel  Rivi^re, 

30  Rue  Jacob,  Paris.  , 

"La  Decomposition  du  Marxisme,"  and     Lcs  lUusionsdu 

progres,"  2d  ed..  1911,  Georges  Sord.     Marcel  Rmere, 

30  Rue  Jacob,  Paris. 
"  Reflexions  sur  la  Violence,"  Georges  Sorel.    Publisher,  Marcel 

Riviere,  30  Rue  Jacob,  Paris. 
"U-s  Syndicats  et  la  Revolution,"  L.  Niels.    140  Rue  Mouf- 

fetard,  Paris,  1902.  ,     .     tj    • 

"La  Philosophic  Syndicaliste,"   Guy-Grand.      2d  ed.,  Pans, 

1911. 

German 

"Der  modcme  franzosischc  Syndikalismus,"  Dr.  Anton  Acht. 

Verlag  von  Gustav  Fischer,  Jena,  191 1. 
A  severely  academic  study,  but  one  of  the  most  useful  yet 

published. 

The  voluminous  Italian  literature  I  have  not  seen  except  such 
as  appears  in  French  translations.  Something  of  this  wiU  be 
found  in  the  French  sources  noted  above. 


I  ..  ! 


INDEX 


I!' 


Absolutism,  the  democratic  ris- 
ing against  capitalistic,  46. 

Adulteration  of  {<x)ds,  132-134. 

Agreements  in  garment-makers' 
strike,  New  York,  attacked 
by  I.  W.  W.,  89  n. 

Agriculture,  cooperative  work 
in,  in  Italy,  199-200. 

American  FeJcration  of  Labor, 
the,  53.  68-^J9,  72;  members 
of,  held  as  scabs  by  I.  VV.  VV., 
246. 

American  Railway  Union  strike 
(1894),  104. 

Amsterdam  dockers'  strike 
(1903),  124- 

Anarchism,  the  I.  VV.  W.  and, 
30,  168  f!.;  strength  of  tenden- 
cies toward,  in  American  Syn- 
dicalism, 172;  French  Syndi- 
calists who  believe  in,  172; 
element  of,  peculiar  to  the 
I.  W.  VV.,  17s;  in  Italy,  176- 
J78. 

Anarchy  during  strikes,  78. 

Angel,  Norman,  The  Great  Illu- 
sion hy,  116  n. 
Antagonisms,  class,  106-114. 
Anthracite  Coal  Commission,  29. 
Apart  colonics,  5 1 . 
Arbitration,  52,  242. 
Arbitration    acts,    rejection    of 

Canadian,  by  I.  VV.  VV.,  147. 
Atlantic  Monthly,  10. 


Australian  ballot,  disappoint- 
ment in  scope  of  results  from, 

SI- 

Australian  strike  of  1890, 124  n. 

Awakener,  service  of  the  I.  W. 
VV.  as  an,  225-238. 

Awakener,  The,  English  maga- 
zine, 226. 

E 

Bax,  Belfort,  opposition  of,  to 
sabotage,  153. 

Bergson,  Henri,  99;  as  "the 
philosopher  of  the  unuttera- 
ble," 169  n. 

Bernstein,  F,.,  Dcr  PoUtiscre 
Massenstreik  by,  126  n.;  com- 
mitted to  compensation,  183. 

Berth,  Edouard,  99;  sabotage 
opposed  by,  153;  anarchist 
protest  of,  171. 

Bohn,  Frank,  quoted  concerning 
the  thirty-three  dynamiters, 
162. 

Bonus  systems,  53. 

Boston  Elevated  Railroad  strike, 

23.  244- 
Bourget,  Paul,  on  Sorel,  172. 
Boycott,  perils  of  the,  70.  7i- 
Brewery    workers,   rejection   of 

Old    .Vge    Pension    offer    by, 

54~55- 
Briand,  98- 
Bryce,  James,  48. 
Burke,  Edmund,  quoted,  36. 
Bums,  John,  98. 


257 


■y  I  i 


■I  : 


358 


INDEX 


}.* 


Canada,  Arbitration  Acts  in,  147. 
Capitalism,  disposal  of,  accord- 
ing to  socialist  theory.   179- 

Caruso,  trial  of,  8  n. 

Channing's  History  oj  the  United 
States  cited,  77. 

Chartism,  62-63. 

Chicago,  packing-house  labor 
unions  in,  88-89;  American 
Railway  Union  strike  at,  104. 

Class  consciousness,  force  of  the 
deepened,  106  ff. 

Class  war,  the,  loi,  106-114. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  29. 

Cobden,  Richard,  47. 

Collective  bargaining,  224,  245. 

Colonizing  exix-riments,  dis;ip- 
pointment  in  results  from.  51. 

Colorado  miners'  strike,  20,  75. 

Communes,  socialist,  57. 

Compensation,  attitude  of  so- 
cialism toward  tiucstion  of, 
179-190;  attitude  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  and  Socialist  Labor  Party, 
190-193. 

Compensation  and  Old  Age  Pen- 
sion, rejection  of,  by  brewery 
workers,  54. 

Compulsory  arbitration,  52  53. 

Conciliation,  hopes  fastened  on, 

Confiscation,  the  doctrine  of, 
190-192. 

Constructive  suggestion,  194- 
214;  lack  of,  in  .American  Syn- 
dicalism. 250. 

Codpcration,  constructive  sug- 
gestion based  on,  195-198; 
under  the  Syndicalist  r6gune. 


198  ff.;  the  ideal  level  of  Syn- 
dicalism, 252. 

Cooperative  groups,  work  done 
by,  in  European  cities,  201- 
202. 

Craft  autonomy,  67. 

D 

Debs,  Eugene,  33,  104;  quoted 
on  the  I.  W.  VV.,  86  n.;  doubts 
raised     about    sabotage    by, 

153  n- 

Dclesalle,  a  believer  in  anar- 
chism, 172. 

Democracy  and  the  Party  System, 
Ostrogorski's,  quoted,  48-49. 

Denmark,  Socialism  in,  3. 

Dimnet,  Ernest,  on  the  term 
"la  grcve  [jcrle,"  148  n. 

Direct  action,  128,  129  B.;  vs. 
the  indirect  action  of  capital- 
ism. 129-130;  similarity  of 
sabotage  and,  132,  134;  as  il- 
lustrated by  the  ordinary 
strike,  158. 

Direct  primaries,  48. 

Disnieli,  the  Sybil  of,  quoted,  63. 

Douglas,  Frederick,  138. 

Dreyfus,  the  c.-i.se  of,  131 . 

Dynamiters,  an  I.  \V.  \V.  view 
of  the  thirty-three,  162. 

E 

Economic  basis,  need  of  a 
broader,  to  secure  a  real 
democracy,  48-49. 

Edutativc  agencies,  vanity  of 
hojx's  of  results  from,  50-51. 

England,  Socialism  in,  3. 

Ettor,  trial  of,  8  n.;  references 


^v  . 


INDEX 


aS9 


to.  9.  "7,  131;  trial  of,  as 
viewed  by  French  syndicalist 
reporter,  91;  quoted  on  vio- 
lence in  the  code  of  the  I.  VV. 
W.,  159. 


Faure,  Syndicalist  veteran,  137. 

Favre,  Jules,  115. 

Fourier,  47,  65,  141. 

F'rance,  socialism  in,  3;  Hay- 
wood's account  of  the  general 
strike  in,  11 7-1 18;  reformist 
parties  in,  221-222;  advantage 
to  syndicalist  experiments  in, 
from  weakness  of  trade  unions, 
346. 


Garibaldi's  army,  an  illustration 

from,  22. 
Garment-makers'    strike,    New 

York,  89  n. 
(Jeneral  Confederation  of  Labor, 
75- 

General  strike,  the,  71,86-87,93, 
115-128. 

Germany,  Socialism  in,  3;  weak- 
ness of  Syndicalism  in,  due 
to  strength  of  labor  unions, 
245-246. 

Ghent,  VV.  J.,  on  s<Kialism  in 
the  Roosevelt  programme,  100; 
on  the  class  war,  108;  on  s.i- 
botage,  154. 

Giovannitti,  trial  of,  8  n.;  men- 
tioned, 9. 

GirardJn,  E.  de,  115. 

Goldfield,  Nevada,  I.  VV.  VV. 
attacks  in,  246. 


Gomf)ers,  79. 

Government  ioterference  in  in- 
dustrial affairs,  28-39;  influ- 
ence  of  public  opinion  upon, 
3'- 

Grand  Lodge,  the,  of  the  Owen, 
ites,  61,  62. 

Grand  National  Consolidated 
Trade  Unions  of  1834,  93. 

"Gr6viculture,"  135. 

Griffuehles,  Victor,  L' Action  Syn- 
dUaliste  by,  123  n.;  quoted, 
128, 131;  mentioned,  135  n. 

GuJsde,  153. 

Guild  life  of  Middle  Ages,  strikeg 
in  the,  116 


H 

Hardy,  Keir,  153. 

Hariey,  J.  H.,  Syndicalism  by, 

63  n. 
Haywood,  William  D.,  69,  82, 
85,  Qi.  178;  a  production  of 
the  Colorado  miners'  strike, 
75-77;  Industrial  Socialism 
by,  quoted,  80;  The  General 
Strike  by,  quoted,  11 7-1 20; 
lack  of  consistency  in  posi- 
tion of,  on  National  Executive 
Board  of  socialist  party,  239- 
240. 

Henderson,  C.  H  ,  Pay-Day  by, 
quoted,  187-188. 

Hillquit,  Morris,  quoted  on  com- 
pensation, 186. 

Homestead  strike,  13. 

Hugo,  Victor,  115. 

Humbert,  King,  murder  of,  176- 
'77. 

Hunter,  Robert,  quoted,  154  n. 


••Ill 


i\ 


260 


INDEX 


r 


It. 


Immigrants  in  the  I.  \V.  W.,  21, 
92. 

Independent,  article  on  "Direct 
Action"  in,  136-137,  163  n. 

Indirect  action  practiced  by 
capitalism  against  labor,  129- 

130. 

Industrial  Worker,  The,  organ 
of  the  I.  W.W. ,8s. 

Industrial  Workers  of  the  \Vorl<l 
(I.  VV.  \V.),  first  appearance  of 
the,  20;  class  especially  ap- 
pealed to  by,  21;  attitude  for 
statesmanship  to  take  toward, 
21-22;  revolutionary  charac- 
ter of  movement,  22-23;  as  a 
world  movement,  25-30;  an- 
archist r6le  enacted  by,  30-31, 
168  fl.;  idealism  at  heart  of 
the  movement,  31;  forerunners 
of  the,  61-72;  attack  of,  on 
Socialism,  73  £f.;  birth  of,  in 
strike  of  Western  Federation 
of  Miners  in  Colorado,  75; 
terms  demanded  of  the  em- 
ploying class  by,  79-80;  in- 
flammatory appeals  of,  79- 
80,  81-82;  first  convention  of 
(1904),  83-84;  second  conven- 
tion (i90()),  85-86;  appear- 
ance of  disrupting  antagonisms 
in,  86-89;  seventh  convention 
(191 2),  90-91;  newer  immi- 
grants in,  92;  youth  of  mem- 
bership, 92-93;  general  char- 
acteristics of,  92-105;  strength 
derived  by,  from  fusion  of 
whole  body  of  workers,  1 20- 
i2i;  attitude  towards  com- 
pensation, 190-192;  eflcctb  of 


responsibility  upon,  215  ff.; 
chief  grounds  for  criticism  of 
ways  and  means  of,  224;  serv- 
ices rendered  by,  as  an  awak- 
ener,  225-238. 

Initiative,  the,  48. 

Intellectuals,  the,  108,  109.  m, 
112;  real  indispensability  of, 
to  the  I.  W.  W.,  1 1 2-1 14;  ef- 
fective formulas  for  the  (len- 
eral  Strike  furnished  by,  115. 

International,  the,  63,  219,  220. 

International  Working  People's 
Association,  221. 

Irritation  strike,  the,  158. 

Italy,  socialism  in,  3;  strike  of 
railway  employees  in,  118-119; 
the  anarchist  element  in  Syn- 
dicalism shown  in,  176-177; 
possibilities  of  cooiierative  in- 
dustry in,  199-200. 


Jaur^s,  quoted  on  compensa- 
tion, 183. 

JefTerson,  Thomas,  faith  of,  in 
popular    educative    agencies, 

50- 
Judge,  Syndicalist's  speech  to  a, 
quoted,  102-103. 


Kautsky,  Karl,  on  the  I.  W.  W., 
73-74;  mentioned,  151,  153; 
committed  to  compensation, 
183;  quoted  on  expropriation 
of  the  capitalist.  185. 

Kenngott,  (i.  I'.,  Kecurd  ,if  a  City 
by,  (|U(!te(l,  230-232. 

Kcufcr,  A.,  216,  222. 


!# 


INDEX 


261 


Kindergarten,  results  expected 
from  the,  so. 

KniRhts  of  I.,abor,  61;  history  of 
the,  64-72;  succeeded  by 
American  Federation  of  Labor, 
72;  causes  of  fall,  84,  80,  215- 
216;  traces  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in 
the,  93,  loi. 

L 

Labor  unionism.  Sec  Trade 
Unions. 

Lafiardelle,  French  Syndicalist, 
67,  go;  quoted,  isf. 

Lawrence  strike,  10,  69,  239;  as 
showing  the  I.  \V.  \V.  to  be 
otherwise  than  merely  a  local 
affair,  27-2Q;  res|x)nsihility 
thrown  upon  the  I.  W.  W.  by 
the,  217;  strength  of  I.  \V.  \V. 
in,  due  to  stifling  of  labor 
unions,  247. 

Leone,  Enrico,  log. 

Le  Rossiguol,  State  Socialism 
in  A'ot'  Zealand  of,  53  n. 

Libraries,  vain  ho|x.'s  founded 
on,  so. 

Literary  organs  of  socialism, 
9-10. 

Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  strikers,  155. 

Lloyd,  Henry  D..  52. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  study  of  condi- 
tions in,  229-232. 

M 

Macdonald,  J.  R.,  Socialism  and 
Government  by,  quoted,  108; 
hostility  of.  to  the  I.  W.  W., 

153- 
McKees  Rocks  strike,  105,  246. 
McMaster's  History  cited,  78. 
McNamaras,  ihe,  90-91, 162. 


Magazines,  disclosures  in,  of 
capitalistic  disorders,  10. 

Mann,  Tom,  135,  136. 

Manual  training,  disappoint- 
ment in  far-reaching  results 
from,  so. 

Marx,  Karl,  65,  80;  attack  of 
Sorel  on,  170. 

Mass  action,  158. 

Mazzini,  47,  53. 

Mill,  J.  S.,  47. 

Millerand,  98. 

Milwaukee,  fusion  of  old  politi- 
cal parties  and  defeat  of  social- 
ism in,  4-s>  249. 

Misconceptions  concerning  pro- 
test of  working  classes,  a  ff. 

Montessori  method  of  child 
training,  S0-51. 

Most,  Johann,  220. 

Moyer,  Charles,  76,  85. 

N 

Xcw  Bedford,  Mass.,  failure 
of  the  I.  \V.  VV.  in,  and  cause, 
247. 

New  Zealand,  compulsory  ar- 
bitration in,  32-53;  strike  of 
iSqoin,  I24n. 

NicI,  216. 

Xoon  Hour  Chat,  socialist  leaflet, 
191. 

O 

One  Big  Union,  Trautmann's 
conception  of  industrial  life 
exf)ounded  in,  203-206. 

On  the  Firing  Line,  quoted,  127- 
128. 

Organization,  the  necessity  of, 
fur  capital  and  aibo  for  labor, 
14-16. 


a6a 


INDEX 


''^ 


r 


Osborn  Judgment,  the,  23. 
Ostrogorski,  cited  and  quoted, 

48-49- 
Owen,  Robert,  61. 
Owenite  movement,  61-62. 


Pacific  coast,  the  I.  W.  VV.  on 
the,  20,  22,  25-27;  anarchy 
of  I.W.  W.on,  173. 

Packing  houses,  Chicago,  labor 
unions  in,  88-8q. 

Pareto,  Vilfredo,  198. 

Pataud,  quoted,  123,  129. 

Pelloutier,  Fernand,  founder  of 
French  Syndicalism,  63,  177; 
as  an  anarchist.  17.';  character 
and  work  of,  234. 

Pettibone,  85. 

Pittsburg,  studies  of  conditions 
in,  16-17,  18-20. 

Political  interference  in  indus- 
trial affairs,  28-29. 

Political  parties,  fusion  of  old, 
to  withstand  encroachment 
of  new  forces,  4-5,  249-250. 

Por,Odon,  quoted,  195.  196-197. 
198-200,  211;  mentioned,  235. 

Portland,  Ore.,  the  I.  W.  W.  in, 

246. 
Post  office  strike  in  Paris  {1910), 

195- 
Pouget,  Emil,  64,  137,  216  n.; 

quoted,  138  n.,  on  sabotage, 

140,  144;  as  an  anarchist,  172. 
Powderly,  Terence  V.,  66,  7°.  7"- 
Preferential  shop,  the,  223-224. 
Profit  sharing,  52,  241. 
Progressive  participation  of  lu 

bor  in  management,  principle 

of,  249.  251-252 


Railroad  passes  as  instruments 

of  corruption,  77- 
Recall,  the,  48. 
Record  of  a  City,  quoted,  230- 

232- 
Reeves,  New  Zealand  economist, 

S3- 

Referendum,  the,  48. 

Reform,  disappointed  hopes  in 
history  of,  47-60. 

Reformist    parties    in    France, 
221-222. 

Regulation  of  capitalistic  organi- 
zations,   14-16. 

Renard,  216. 

Representation,  the  people's  vain 
fight  for,  48. 

Responsibility,  effects  of,  upon 
the  I.  W.W.,  215-224 

Roland-Hoist,   Henrietle,  study 
of  general  strike  by,  125-126. 

Roller,  .Arnold,  study  of  general 
strike  by,  124-125. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  29;  social- 
ism in  programme  of,  99-100. 

Russell,  Charles  Edward,  53. 


Sabotage,  75.  95.  120,  132;  prac- 
ticed by  the  Knights  of  Labor. 
Ill;  direct  action  and,  132, 
134;  origins  of,  139-140;  vari- 
ety of  practices  of,  140-147; 
essence  of,  is  destruction,  147- 
148;  willessness  and  pathos  of, 
149,  compassion  of,  with  in- 
sidious |X)ison,  149-150;  hos- 
tility of  leading  socialists  to, 

152-154- 
St.     John,     Vincent,     National 


INDEX 


263 


Secretary  of  the  I.  W.  W., 

79.  91.  iSS;  quoted.  85,  207  n.; 
on  violence  in  I.  W.  W.  tactics, 
160-161. 

St.  Simon,  47. 

San  Diego,  events  at,  showing 
Syndicalism  as  a  world  move- 
ment, 25-27;  Weinstock  re- 
port on  disturbances  in,  1 73. 

Scabs,  discussion  uf,  38. 

Scidel,  Mayor,  4. 

Shaw,  Bernard,  112;  quoted  on 
white  slave  traffic,  226. 

Sliding  scales,  52. 

Socialism,  prevalent  skepticism 
as  to  growth  of,  1-2;  undeni- 
able development  of,  in  United 
States,  2-i;  ijpread  of,  in  Eu- 
ropean countries,  3;  a  part 
and  parcel  of  American  politi- 
cal and  social  structure,  4; 
fusion  of  old  political  purtics 
due  to,  4-5;  reasons  for  spread 
of  party,  5-8;  influence  of 
capital  and  labor  unionism 
for  and  against,  12-13; 
toward  organized  labor,  16  fl.; 
character  of  the  protest  that 
is  voiced  by,  32;  sacrifices  of, 
to  carry  on  the  c^".^,  33-37; 
vigor  and  achievement  of, 
resulting  from  failures  of  com- 
peting attempts,  47;  rise  of 
Syndicalism  due  in  part  to 
disappointment  in  results 
from,  S7~58;  penalty  due 
from,  for  promising  too  much, 
58;  hopes  carried  10  the  masses 
by,  58-59;  attack  of  the  I.  \V. 
\V.  on,  73  ff.;  attitude  of, 
toward  compensation  to  capi- 
talism, 179-193- 


Socialist  Labor  Party,  90;  con- 
fiscation rather  than  compen- 
sation advocated  by,  igi. 

Social  Unrest,  The,  12;  quoted 
on  the  outcome  of  capital's 
struggle  with  labor,  17-18. 

Solidarity,  lack  of  real,  between 
different  classes  of  workers, 
69-70. 

Solidarity,  periodical,  hostility 
e.xpresscd  by,  against  socialist 
leaders,  152  n.;  quoted  on  use 
of  violence  in  tactics  of  I.  VV. 
W.,  161;  cited  and  quoted, 
206  n.,  207  n. 

Sorel,  George,  writings  of  9,4,  99; 
scorching  of  the  "intellec- 
tuals" by,  112-113;  opposi- 
tion of,  to  sabotage,  153;  ref- 
erences to,  169,  170,  212-213; 
support  of  anarchism  by,  172. 

Spanish  strike  in  1874, 124. 

Stephens,  M.  S.,  originator  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  64-66. 

Sterner,  Der  Einzige  iind  scin 
Eigenltum  of,  168  n. 

Stewart,  W.  1).,  53  n. 

Stockholm  strike,  the,  126-127. 

Strikes,  the  real  significance  of, 

39-43- 

"Survey"  of  Pittsburg,  19;  of 
Lowell,  229-232. 

Sympathetic  strike,  the,  71-72. 

Syndicalism,  first  ap|jearance 
of,  20;  as  a  world  movement, 
25-30;  rise  of,  accounteti  for 
in  part  by  disappointed  hopes 
from  other  methods  of  reform, 
56-57;  in  its  origin  the  loiin- 
terpart  of  our  "trade  union- 
ism," 57  n.;  necessity  for 
differentiating  from  the  roots 


»      I 


264 


INDEX 


l> 


from  which  it  sprang,  so-f>o; 
forerunners  of,  61-72;  strugKli' 
of  labor  against  capitalism 
directed  to  gain  control  at 
the  centers  and  sources  of 
economic  p  *er  by,  129.  5<r 
Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World. 

T 

Taff-Vail  Decision,  13. 

Tuhnkal  World  report  quoted, 

144-145- 
Thomas,  Albert,  216. 
Tolstoi.  L.  N.,  112, 116, 170-171- 
Trade    unions,    :is    educational 
and   conservative   forces,    12; 
recognition    of    wage    system 
by.  12;  adherents  of  I.  \V.  VV. 
contrasted  with  sup|)«  "ters  of, 
21 ;  disappointment  in  work- 
ers'  hopes   from,   s?-S4;   i^n- 
trance  of    I.   \V.    W.    where 
weakness  in,  exists,  245-246. 
Trautmann,     \V.     E.,    quoted, 
81-82,  88-80,  160;  InJuslrial 
Unionism    uf,    quoted,     107; 
Direct    Action    and    Saholuj^c 
by,  cited,   i,?2;  pamphlet  on 
One  Big  Union  by,  203-206. 
Tridon,  Andr^',  article  on  "  Dire-,  t 
Action"  by,  136-137.  if'i  "• 

U 

Universal  strike,  the,  158. 
Universal    suffrage,    disappoint- 
ment in  results  of,  50. 


Violence,  question  of,  and  rela- 
tion to  propaganda  of  the  I 
W.  W.,  127-128,  158  fl. 

Voluntary  arbitration,  52. 


W 

Wage  system,  recognized  by 
trade  unionism  but  an  object 
for  destruction  to  socialism, 
12-13;  the  jwint  of  attack  for 
rebellious  workers,  44-45;  chal- 
lenge presented  by  labor  to 
the  present  woiking  of,  60. 

Waiters'  strike.  228-229. 

Walling,  W.  E  .  quoted,  67  n.; 
Socialism  as  It  Is  by,  gg;  on 
Roosevelt  and  socialism,  too; 
on  the  war  of  classes,  1 11-112; 
on  violence,  166  n. 

Webbs,  the,  61;  hostility  of  to 

thcl.W.W,  IS3- 
Weinstock,  Col.,  report  of,  on 
disturbances    in    San    Diego, 

173- 

Welfare  work,  242. 

Wells,  n.  {;.,  quoted  on  the 
ilass  war,  107-108;  saboUge 
oi)pt)sctl  by,  153;  committed 
to  compensation,  183;  Misery 
of  Boots  by,  (juoted,  184- 

Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
75,  85;  origin  and  constitution 
of,  76. 

White  slave  traffic,  225-227. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  quoted,  19- 
20;  mentioned,  32. 

World  Brotherhood,  the,  219. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.,  75. 


Youngstown,   Ohio,    I.    W.   W. 

outbreaks  in,  246. 
Vvetot,    Ccorges,   definition    of 

"direct  action"  by,    134;  an 

anarchist,  172. 


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Mass  and  Class 

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cious, and  of  genuine  interest." — The  Independent. 

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By  MORRIS  HILLQUIT 

Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice 

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socialist  ixiint  of  view  that  has  yet  appeared." — The  Economie  Review. 

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lucid."—  The  Evening  Post,  Chicago. 

"It  merits  the  praise  of  being  the  best  presentation  of  the  socialist  pxjsition 
that  has  been  published  since  it  reached  a  stage  that  calls  for  more  than 
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a  hunt  through  a  dozen  or  more  volumes." — The  Brooklyn  Eaifte. 

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By  WILLIAM  B.  GUTHRIE,  Ph.D. 

Socialism  before  the  French  Revolution 

"A  really  important  contribution  in  a  neglected  field." 

— A  merican  Ilislorical  Review. 
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By  THOMAS  KIRKUP 

A  History  of  Socialism 

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of  the  utmost  value. "^-WancAfs/cr  Guardian. 

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By  ROBERT  HUNTER 

Socialists  at  Work 

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the  socialist  movement  throughout  the  world.  Such  a  book  does  real  service 
in  presenting  the  truly  significant  facts  in  the  modern  spread  of  socialistic 
propaganda  and  in  stating  in  definite  terms  the  principles  on  which  socialists 
are  agreed  and  the  immediate  aims  of  their  organizations.  The  world-sweep 
of  the  movement  has  never  before  been  so  clearly  brought  before  the  Ameri- 
can reading  public." — Revievj  oj  Reviavs. 

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A  Few  Macmillan  Books  on  Socialism 

By  JOHN  SPARGO 

Socialism 

A  Summary  and  Interpretation  of  Socialist  Principles 
"AnythinR  of  Mr.  Spargo's  is  wiP  worth  rtailinR,  (or  it  is  writtcii  with 
conviction  and  with  a  sense  of  concrete  li(c-  far  removed  from  mere  doc- 
trinairism.  .  .  .  Anybody  who  wants  to  know  exactly  what  the  American 
Marxian  of  the  saner  sort  is  aimins  at  will  find  it  here.  In  view  of  ihc 
present  situation  it  is  a  U>ok  that  every  thouRhtful  jKjrson  will  want  to  reicl 
and  read  carefully."— IKofW  To-day. 

Clollt,  $r.so  lift;  by  mail  $i.f>3 

By  M/VX  HIRSCH 

Democracy  vs.  Socialism 

A  Critical  Examination  of  Socialism  as  a  Remedy  for 

Social  Injustice  and  an  Kxposition  of  the  Single  T.\x 

Doctrine 

Mr.  Hirsch  oflers  the  other  side  to  those  who  wou!  ■^A^\y  investi^'ate 

the  socialist  doctrine.     He  analyzes  the  teachinus  i       ,«ialHm;  [xiinl^  out 

what  he  conceives  to  be  the  errors  in  their  economi     ..id  ethical  stand|)oint; 

exhibits  the  conflict  between  their  industrial  and  di-lrihiitive  proposals,  and 

the  disasters  toward  which  they  tend.     In  his  tinal  section  he  aims  to  show 

that  upon  the  success  of  certain  .stxial  refiirin>  depends  the  rcaliz.ition  of  the 

ultimate  object  of  both  individualism  and  socialism— the  establishment  of 

social  justice.  ,  .,  ^ 

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The  Case  against  Socialism 


A   Handbook   for   Speakers  and  Candidates  Prepared 

BY  THE  London  Mcnicipal  Society 

Its  prefatory  letter  from  Arthcr  J.amps  B\lfol-r  says:  "The  controversy 

is  one  vital  to  the  welfare  of  society;  .  .  .  no  greater  service  can  be  rendered 

to  the  cause  of  ordered  progress  than  a  statement,  at  once  careful  and  iK)pu- 

lar,  of  the  main  points  in  the  dispute." 

"Every  man  or  woman,  rich  or  ptnir,  at  all  interested  \n  the  social,  eco- 
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handbook  of  its  kind  that  has  been  issued  to  the  public."-Xaftiir  \\  orld. 

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By  YVES  GUYOT 

Socialistic  Fallacies 

"It  is  written  in  the  crisp,  clear  style  that  is  essentially  French— 
the  most  logical  of  languages  written  by  the  mo>t  logical  of  thinkers.  A 
great  book  .  .  .  one  of  those  which  serve  to  clarify  contemporary  thought 
and  to  make  what  the  German  thinkers  describe  as  an  'crklarung'— a  clearing 
up." — The  Stale.  ..... 

"An  arsenal  of  facts  and  figures  available  for  an  anti-socialistic  cam- 
Daign." — EccUsiaslicai  Review.  .,  ^    , 

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